Why Russell Pearce looks unhappy

by David Safier

The Capitol Times' cover article (subscription only) has one of the better graphics I've seen lately: an unhappy looking Russell Pearce next to a Spanish language copy of The Book of Mormon.

Pearce has a problem. His church doesn't agree with his stand on illegal immigration. Pearce loves to talk about the church's teaching that you should support the rule of law, but that's as far as he's willing to go. In recent statements, the Mormon Church has taken its teachings to a higher moral level.

In a position paper, the church declared:

The bedrock moral issue for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is how we treat each other as children of God.

Sure, respect the law. But how we treat each other is the "bedrock moral issue."

Here's what the position paper says about immigration laws.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned that any state legislation that only contains enforcement provisions is likely to fall short of the high moral standard of treating each other as children of God.

The Church supports an approach where undocumented immigrants are allowed to square themselves with the law and continue to work without this necessarily leading to citizenship.

In furtherance of needed immigration reform in the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports a balanced and civil approach to a challenging problem, fully consistent with its tradition of compassion, its reverence for family, and its commitment to law.

The position sounds like it stops short of a path to citizenship, but it's still miles ahead of what Pearce advocates.

The Mormon Church has now joined other churches in advocating for humane immigration reform. Where does that leave Pearce?

“They said enforce the law,” Pearce said about the statement. “Read the whole thing…. I’m going to enforce the law.”

Deep Thought: If you change a law which works against treating people morally and compassionately, then you can have it both ways. The laws you enforce can be moral as well as legal documents.

I'm hoping Pearce's quarrel with the position of his own church will give Mesa Mormons the push they need to vote against him in the upcoming recall. It might even help non-Mormons understand that this pompous, self righteous, morally bankrupt individual can no longer pretend he's adhering to a higher morality when he calls for ever more draconian immigration laws. He's nothing more than a scared, hateful bully.