SB1070 Update: Continuing controversy in the Mormon Church

by David Safier

The position of the Mormon Church on SB1070 wouldn't be as significant if Russell Pearce weren't Mormon and if he didn't use church doctrine to justify the law.

I've posted about Mormons complaining both about the law and its effects on church members. Spanish speaking congregations in Arizona and Utah often have a significant number of undocumented aliens as members, so for some Mormons, this is a personal as well as a religious matter. And some people are taking action.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Mormon Latinos on Thursday launched a letter-writing campaign to LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson, urging him to spell out the faith's position on immigration law, an issue they say is dividing the church.

Activist Tony Yapias, of the advocacy group Proyecto Latino de Utah, says he launched the campaign with his own letter to Monson.

Besides letters, Latinos plan to wear ribbons signifying unity in their quest to have the man Mormons regard as a prophet speak up unambiguously on what they see as a moral issue.

"This is affecting our families," Yapias says. "Where's the church in this? The longer they stay quiet, the more political it gets, the more divisive."

Sandy resident Alfredo Gallardo says he, too, is writing Monson to express what many Latino Latter-day Saints feel.

"There is a double standard now — one for Sunday and one for Monday through Saturday," he says. "We want to write to the prophet to say the feelings of brotherhood have to be followed all the time."

The church plans to take no official stand on the controversy.

While the church "recognizes the complexities facing elected officials as they grapple with the implications of immigration law," the statement [attributed to Church spokesman Scott Trotter] says, it has not taken a position on the issue "which is clearly the province of government."

Church leaders, it adds, "have urged compassion and careful reflection when addressing immigration issues affecting millions of people."

If I read that statement correctly, it says, "We won't take a stand on a governmental law, but if we did, we'd be against this one."