Excellent, AG. CTC
Posted on 04/04/2009 8:48:20 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
The Arizona Republic’s coverage of an alleged conflict between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its efforts to convert Latino Catholics troubles me in a number of ways. But before I get into my criticism, I think it’s worth saying at the top that just covering this issue is an excellent first step. The challenge faced by the reporter is that this is a massive issue that requires a close examination into a number of different areas that are sensitive, conflicting and anything but straightforward.
The article’s main focus and headline is on the proposition that LDS is “conflicted on church’s illegal-migrant growth,” whatever that means. The subhead states that the story is about “Drawing converts vs. upholding the law,” but it is difficult to find in the story where that contradiction is actually present in the facts. In fact, almost the exact opposite seems to be the case, or at least one side of the issue is “quiet” as this portion of the article seems to make clear:
The church has not taken a position on immigration, Andersen said.The conflict appears to be more about perceptions as opposed to anything official coming from the church. The main focus is on a state lawmaker who partially bases his opposition to illegal immigration and his efforts to fight it on his church’s theological tenants:“But we feel it is our responsibility to minister to all of God’s children, regardless of (immigration) status,” he said.
Immigration has touched off a “quiet revolution” within the Mormon Church, said Garcia, the Brigham Young professor.
Some state lawmakers, on the other hand, are trying to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona.As Pearce states at the end of the above quoted section, converting Catholic Latinos does not necessarily go agains his political goal of driving from Arizona people who have immigrated illegally to the United States. The story focuses more on what academics have to say than actual Latinos who have either converted to LDS to are opposed to the perception that LDS somehow opposes illegal immigration. The article ambiguously states that “[s]ome Mormons] believe anti-illegal immigration policies hurts those families and is against the church’s tenants, but I don’t get a sense of who those people are.Pearce said his immigration legislation, including the state’s 15-month-old employer-sanctions law, is rooted in the Mormon Church’s 13 Articles of Faith.
“We believe in laws and the sustaining and obeying of the laws of the land,” Pearce said.
At the same time, Pearce said he is sympathetic toward illegal immigrants.
“I tell you, most of these are good people,” he said. “But you are still taking jobs from Americans, suppressing wages and breaking the law. We can’t tolerate that.”
Still, he doesn’t believe Mormons are undermining his efforts by reaching out to Latinos.
While I know the article focused on the issue of immigration, legal or illegal, I would have liked to see the article address more thoroughly the issue of converting to LDS.
The issue of proselytizing is treated as completely benign. Whether or not the Latino community appreciates the conversion of members of their families is not addressed. In addition, little is said on the fact that when Brigham Young left Illinois for the Western North America, the region he ended up in was part of Mexico and portions of where they settled are still part of Mexico today.
Lastly, the article rightly touched upon the issue of the Mormon church’s tendency to lean towards the conservative branch of the Republican Party and that has resulted in the conflation of both the perceptions and the reality of issues of public policy. If only other news articles were this careful in distinguishing actual church policy with the actually facts on the grounds when it comes to issues of politics and policy and LDS. Unfortunately, I think this article reported accurately the church’s public policy but overplayed the concept that Mormons are stridently divided on immigration policy based on the facts given in the article.
And from the article this blog comments on:
As a result, Latinos are joining the Mormon Church at a greater rate than members of any ethnic group, even Anglos, church leaders say....Garcia estimates that nationwide, 70 percent of all Latino converts in the past 10 to 15 years are undocumented immigrants.
Freudian slip, or merely quasi-literate?
Maybe he was thinking about the Catholic sanctuary movement. In some Catholic churches we actually do have church tenants. Our Bishops tell us this does not violate church tenets but some of us disagree.
Now, once they express interest and think about actually joining, at leat everywhere I have lived, without invading their privacy or "investigating them" itself, the church encourages them to make sure that they are obeying and sustaining the laws of the nation in which they reside.
They are interviewed before baptism and asked if they have accepted Christ and are trying to live as He would and are prepared to be baptised and make that covenant with Him...which is if they sincerely repent of their sins and accept Christ, He forgives them and sends His Holy Spirit as a gift to them. They are asked if there are outstanding issues (allowing them to volunteer any discussion) and then they are counseled regarding any issues they raise.
This is how the Church works. It is not encouraging or taking advantage of illegals and their status or situation. It is seeking those, wherever they may be found, who are interested in coming to Christ.
An unseemly preoccupation with money has distracted many religious leaders from their religion, from the distant past to the present time.
I know a Catholic guy who converted to Mormonism and now he preaches the approaching end of the world as we know it, every single day.
BTW, his name is Glenn Beck.
;^)
This would not be the first time Catholics have been targeted for bombardment with faulty Bibles and defective theology.
T’was ever thus.
I pray that the Latinos maintain their Catholic faith.
**Dude, I know a Catholic woman who became Mormon and it was a disaster for her daughters. They both became very promiscuous. The woman is now returning to the Catholic Church.**
Thanks be to God!
I did some research. Glen Beck was baptized a Catholic and is still a Catholic.
He may attend the Mormon Church currently. But he is still a Catholic. He Baptism stands, and he would be welcome back into the CAtholic Church at any time.
Amen and well said!
Why not just pray the Holy Spirit to form the consciences of those who are already claiming membership in a religion. If God wants them to convert to yours, He can do it without your help. If He doesn’t . . . same. Why Proselytize?
How Old Is Your Church?
If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.
If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.
If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.
If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.
If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.
If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.
If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829.
If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605.
If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder, because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.
If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.
If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.
If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as ‘Church of the Nazarene,” “Pentecostal Gospel.” “Holiness Church,” “Pilgrim Holiness Church,” “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past century.
If you are Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ the Son of God, and it is still the same Church.
If you are non-denominational or Independent Baptist or a group of Christians that meets without any particular affiliation, then you might trace your roots back to the beginning:
Ping
Excellent, AG. CTC
LOL! Good one about Beck.
He reminds me of those crazy guys with the “World is Going to End” signs whom after 9-11 said “See? I told you so!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.