Inspired by their faith, a group of Alabamians are refusing to give up despite their own elected officials’ intransigence. Yesterday they prayed and sang outside the Senate chamber, blocking the entryway and forcing the Senators to hear their message. Rev. Angie Wright explained:

The purpose was twofold. One purpose was to express moral outrage and opposition to HB 56, Alabama’s inhumane immigration law, and secondly to challenge the Senate to take action and to move through their fear of standing up to the opposition they face.

Watch this powerful witness:

Faith leaders have been telling their legislators that these laws violate their religious beliefs. Yesterday’s legislative action in the House was a sad victory for cruel politics. Let’s hope the Alabama Senate chooses compassion over political ideology.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) pointed out that Ryan’s proposal would “likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times…The decisions made in this budget are antithetical to our basic moral values:”

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) added that the budget proposal passed by the House would be a “huge squeeze on the poorest people in our society:”

Catholic Bishops, theologians, social service providers, and legislators have spoken clearly. While Paul Ryan attempts to justify his budget on Catholic grounds, the choices his budget makes are not in line with the beliefs and principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

JONES: I don’t think this bill reflects who we are in Alabama. We talk a lot about God. In fact the day this bill was introduced on this floor I’m the one that had the prayer that opened this with a prayer. Then we come back with a bill that looks very much not like who we are as a religious people.

Now I’m a Christian so I’m looking at it from a Christian perspective. And I recognize the Christ who said I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. And more importantly I was a stranger and you welcomed me. What you have one to the least of these you have done unto me.

I’m calling on religious people in this state to be honest about their faith. To take the politics out of it and if this is who you say you are religiously you have to stand against this.

On Thursday in Birmingham local NBC news anchor Mike Royer introduced the major advertising initiative led by dozens of clergy from across Alabama, as follows:

The group called Faith Leaders for a Welcoming Alabama says the law is having far-reaching negative impacts on the state. About 25 so-called faith leaders are part of the group that sponsored the ad.

This is not only unprofessional, it’s insulting. The faith leaders behind the ad are prominently listed on the campaign’s website with their city and church. They could all be independently verified by even the most amateur of journalists or researchers. Royer’s blatant denigration of these faith leaders is a shameful reflection on him and his network.

Even more egregiously, the Associated Press published a story looking at the “reforms” to the law being pushed by conservatives in the state legislature. The article was titled “Ala. immigration changes address religious concern.”

 Yet the substance of the article clearly demonstrates that “changes” have done anything but!

The only source that claims so is an adviser to Governor Robert Bentley, an advocate for the law, who is clearly trying to spin the recent bill as having solved the problem. The story then goes on to extensively quote faith leaders speaking passionately about the severity of the problems encapsulated by the law, problems that they insist continue to exist despite nominal “reforms:”

The Rev. Angie Wright from the Beloved Community United Church of Christ in Birmingham said the changes don’t go far enough and in some cases make the law harsher. That includes levying a felony punishment for aiding five illegal immigrants, when the current law provides for aiding 10 or more.

“It is deeply disturbing to me, especially during Holy Week, that legislators have shown no remorse for the massive suffering caused by HB56,” she said, referring to the bill number for the law.

Wright is an organizer of Faith Leaders for a Welcoming Alabama, which is running TV ads criticizing the law. She said the proposed changes won’t stop criticism because even if the changes are enacted, the law will still interfere with the role of churches by creating fear in immigrant communities.

“This is the work of the Lord — looking after the least of these,” she said.

Kitty Rogers Brown, an attorney for Episcopal Bishop Henry Parsley Jr. of the Diocese of Alabama, said Friday the revision legislation is a sign that state officials are listening to religious leaders’ concerns. “But it does not go far enough,” she said.

Brown said some of the changes appear to offer protection to church leaders, but the wording of the bill makes her concerned the protection is not extended to church members.

Political issues and legislative processes are complex. People depend on the media for accurate information to help them understand the policies supported by their elected officials. These two instances of sloppy journalism reveal how the media contributes to the public’s confusion around a particular issue, particularly when Southern faith leaders don’t neatly fit the stereotype of being uniformly conservative.

Instead of listening to the concerns of the religious community and seeking a fresh start, a sponsor of the bill flippantly dismissed them. According to WNCF:

The sponsor of the bill, Representative Mickey Hammond [sic], (R ) District 4, says the group behind the TV ad doesn’t understand the law.
…
“We are going to come up with clarifications and simplifications that will make the law easier to enforce and easier to understand and we’ll clear up some of the confusion about the intent of the law”

Hammon’s response is not only insulting but misleading. The faith leaders’ interpretation on the provisions and purpose on the law is based on the clearly stated intentions of Alabama legislators like Rep. Hammon himself, who has openly bragged about these provisions as an “Alabama flavor” that makes the law even better than its Arizona counterpart.

The story goes on to quote, Rev. Ron Higey, a conservative pastor in Birmingham and member of the new coalition running the ad, as saying:

“From a Christian faith perspective I cannot comfortably explain why we would treat others the way this law wants us to treat them harshly, impunitively [sic] knowing that we will have to give an account to God.”

Higey’s remarks show a clear understanding of the law’s harsh nature and immoral consequences. Rep. Hammon should spend more time actually listening to the faith community’s concerns and less time defending an extreme law that harms children and hurts the state economically.

We pray together for all God’s children here in Alabama and we urge our legislators to honor the Christian commitment to family, community, and dignity by changing course on immigration. HB 56 violates our most basic values, separating parents from children, criminalizing our ministries to those in need, and opening the door to discriminatory profiling of our fellow Alabamians.

As the legislative debate heats up the faith community in Alabama has sent a clear statement. They want a state that affirms the dignity of all people and allows them to minister to everyone without fear, and they want an end to this artificial crisis created by an extreme political ideology.

Noting the pernicious role of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law,” the NCC went on to say:

In this case, the police have said Florida law makes it unnecessary for police to investigate the shooting of Trayvon, resulting in unprecedented demonstrations of anger in the U.S. and around the world. Clearly, this tragedy has been compounded by unexamined stereotypes on both sides, and especially by the systemic racism that is pervasive throughout the very fabric of our society infecting our institutions and individuals alike.

Read the full statement here.

As faith and community leaders across the state fight to repeal HB 56, they have a clear message for other states considering passing similar laws:  “you’ll regret it.” Speaking alongside others who’ve seen the consequences of Alabama’s law first hand on a press call today, Pastor Ron Higey of Birmingham International Church made explicit the anti-Christian nature of the law:

From a Christian faith perspective I cannot comfortably explain why we would treat others this way – harshly and punitively. As Christians – as people of faith, we are called to a higher standard of how we live with and treat others. For these reasons I call on upon Christians and people of faith to stand against this law and call their legislators and voice their objections and concerns.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus famously asks his disciples, “what good is it to gain the whole world, yet lose your soul?” Pastor Higey’s comments should leave Alabama legislators questioning the value of a political triumph that wreaks such havoc and causes such wrenching pain.

For a recording of the call, click here.

Photo Credit: Justin Valas on Flickr

Hundreds of people are following in the footsteps of past leaders, some of whom have returned to build on their legacy:

“This is about repeating a part of Alabama’s past that does not bear repeating,” Murguia said of the state’s immigration law. “Voter suppression laws and anti-immigration laws are their way of turning back the clock, but we are not going to allow that to happen.”

Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat but Alabama native who was badly beaten during the attack on marchers in 1965, rallied marchers Sunday, telling them that the struggles for human rights in 1965 and in 2012 are the same.

“Forty-seven years ago I spilled a little blood on that bridge but that was nothing compared to those who died so that we could live in a better America,” Lewis told a large crowd in front of Brown Chapel AME Church, the same church marchers used to stage the 1965 march. “We march today for what we did 47 years ago — for what is fair, what is right and for what is just.”