Evangelicals Pro-Immigration?

Religious conservatives are openly embracing John McCain’s approach to immigration, which could help McCain woo an important part of the Republican party’s activist base. “There are significant differences between social conservatives and economic and defense and libertarian conservatives. They have points of contact and points of disconnect, and this may be one of them,” said Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest evangelical denomination. Last week, Land stood with liberal Sen. Ted Kennedy to trumpet the need for comprehensive immigration changes. Other leading evangelicals “strongly supportive” of such efforts include Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, and best-selling author Rick Warren, Land said. The National Association of Evangelicals has called for immigration to be handled with “justice, compassion and mercy.”  White evalangicals are realizing that Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of evangelical churches, said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez Jr., president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents 15 million churchgoers.

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KJ