Assuming they deserve respect, religious leaders like Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony have taken to uniting in criticism of the new immigration law in Arizona.
Mahony is hardly the only religious leader outraged by Arizona’s approach to immigration, which requires police to ask for papers from anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. The progressive Evangelical leader Jim Wallis has declared the state’s new law a social and racial sin. The president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society declared that by passing the law, Arizona has taken itself out of the mainstream of American life. And McMahon’s Catholic colleague the bishop of Tucson has suggested that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) join lawsuits challenging the law.
Granted they’re actually making some good points, but this is just another instance of religious leaders thinking they deserve respect. They’re presuming that because they lead gullible people who are hostile to and ignorant of science that they have some actual qualifications for speaking on these issues. If they want to keep yammering about this or that, fine, but do it in a way that doesn’t assume respect; maybe become a political pundit or something.
Filed under: Politics and Social, Religions | Tagged: Arizona, Immigration, Jim Wallis, religion, Roger Mahony | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 