Posted on 07/10/2009 8:35:57 AM PDT by greyfoxx39
Cecelia Carmona has sent six children and a grandson to parts of the United States on two-year LDS missions -- all as undocumented immigrants. A year ago, the Salt Lake City single mom from Mexico completed her own 18-month mission in New York City.
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The church did not take a position on recent immigration legislation, which outraged Jaime and other LDS immigrants eager for their faith to defend them.
"The church could make more pressure on lawmakers," he says.
It's a balancing act for LDS authorities, given that many of the main opponents of undocumented immigrants also happen to be Mormon.
From that perspective, undocumented immigrants are violating church principles, especially the 12th Article of Faith, which says members believe in "obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."
"If they're undocumented, they are not legal," says state Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, a former LDS missionary. "If they are working, they are using another person's Social Security number. It is wrong."
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Still, LDS authorities defend their political neutrality and policies.
"We're not agents of the immigration service, and we don't pretend to be," apostle Jeffrey R. Holland told The Salt Lake Tribune recently, "and we also won't break the law."
To that end, the church sends missionaries among undocumented immigrants, baptizing many of them without ever asking about their status. It also allows them to go to the temple and on missions.
"The blessings of the [LDS] Church are available to anyone who qualifies for and accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ," LDS spokesman Scott Trotter says. "Federal law allows undocumented persons to provide volunteer church service, including missionary service, within the United States."
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
Is it a a happy dance or what?
I don’t know. It has me bamboozled.
ROTFLL!
Nah..
just some kid who actually took up the challenge to poke the hornet’s nest.
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