TX Baptists adopt policy to help BOTH legal and illegal immigrants

[UTUSN]

Incredible!!1

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.themonitor.com/news/immigration_3332___article.html/program_texas.html

Texas Baptist agree to help migrants — legal and illegal

Kyle Arnold
June 25, 2007 - 7:25PM

McALLEN — Baptist congregations in Texas say they will play Good Samaritan to illegal immigrants in the United States, making an about face with many conservative groups on the divisive issue of illegal immigration.

The Baptists General Convention of Texas adopted a resolution Monday to offer immigration services to both legal and illegal aliens — saying they were embracing biblical mandates to provide aid to visitors and minister to the poor.

“The story of migration in the Bible is very powerful,” said Suzii Paynter, director of the Christian Life Commission for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “We’re citizens of God’s kingdom and his kingdom calls for a ministry of compassion.”

The decision was approved overwhelmingly and presented at the Hispanic Baptist Convention in Austin on Monday. The church-based program will provide congregations with assistance to create immigration service ministries. ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[BlooInBloo]

1. You sure you got the right state?

[UTUSN]

2. *And* the correct denomination?!!1 I just post'em. I can't make this up!!1 n/t

[BlooInBloo]

3. Beware of TX baptists bearing gifts, then.

EDIT: Changed subject.

[greenissexy]

4. Nice trick!

You "help" the poor to a nice warm meal while someone in the backroom calls INS.

[UTUSN]

5. Your take sounds more believable than the actual news story n/t

[ComerPerro]

6. Hell, even if that's the case, at least they are willing to feed them, which is more than I can say

for some DUers, even.

[Bridget Burke]

7. Baptists General Convention of Texas is NOT the Southern Baptist Convention

Miles Seaborn, pastor of Birchman Baptist Church, Fort Worth, is chairman of the Texas Conservative Baptist Fellowship. He is also a trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and he voted to fire Russell Dilday.

Seaborn has sent a letter to Texas pastors urging them to cut their support of the Baptists General Convention of Texas to 50 percent or only 10 percent, with the rest going to the Southern Baptist Convention. He is also urging that gifts to the Texas Conservative Baptist Fellowship be counted Cooperative Program gifts.

www.txbc.org/1994Journals/December%201994/Dec94ConservativeFellowship.htm

It can be hard to tell the Baptists apart. (Especially if you aren't from Texas.) Nearly all of them are fairly "Conservative"--in some sense, at least. But when the Southern Baptists got in bed with the Texas Republicans, that unholy union gave an enormous boost to the Religious Right. That is, the folks who want to force their religious views on all of us. From a piece on religious reactions to immigration:

Those who have weighed in, such as Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, take a less charitable view toward immigrants who came to work than those who fled political or religious persecution.

"Romans 13 says that God ordained the civil magistrate to punish those who do wrong and to reward those who do that which is right," Land says. To let border crossing and other violations go unpunished "subverts the reason that God gave us government in the first place."

www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-04-26-immigration-religious_x.htm

Let's hear it for the more open-minded folks.

[UTUSN]

8. Hear hear for the open-minded folks. & Kick for HANNITY's rough day today.

Yesterday on the radio he was in his meltdown mode over the coming vote on cloture for today, which he was saying would not happen until late in the afternoon or even into the next day. Instead the 64 votes came by around Noon ET.

So it was like before Election '06, when HANNITY was screaming every day and was SCARING himself with the thought of "SPEAKER PELOSI!!1" He even "campaigned" for the several weeks before Election Day, saying that he was not going home and would be traveling to key cities all over the country to campaign, that it was WORTH IT being away from wife and home because of the THREAT OF SPEAKER PELOSI!!1

So yesterday he was harrassing his flying monkeys to call certain key Rethug senators who might be TURNCOATS and vote WITH THE DEMS!!1 Horrors!!1 And HE was harrassing those senators, having his staff call their offices and demanding that they appear on his circus to answer to him, to explain their vote and possibly to change their vote. He was reading the responses from the senators' staff: That one said the HANNITY request was "at the bottom of the list." He was especially going after Senator shirley-temple-HATCH and McCONNELL.

So today the response started with LIMBOsevic. The vote was complete and LIMBOsevic took a calm tack, giving the flying monkeys HOPE and telling them to STAY MAD to get even. And HANNITY continued the calm thing, though he was seething.