By Brian Clark
Something is about to happen in Georgia that violates the Golden Rule, the greatest commandments and everything Judeo-Christian scripture teaches about the treatment of others. A special legislative committee in the Georgia General Assembly is discussing an Arizona-style immigration law that targets undocumented persons and is due to come before the House and Senate in February or March.
The proposed legislation is gaining strength and likely will pass with little opposition unless the religious community speaks on behalf of our neighbors in great number and with great clarity. The reasons behind the proposed legislation are economic in nature. The committee would have every Georgian believe that their lives would be better and their economic futures more secure without undocumented persons living in their neighborhoods, attending their schools and working in their businesses.
Despite the fact that undocumented persons contribute to the state tax base, bolster the agricultural economy and keep local businesses alive, the real issue before the committee isn’t economic. The real issue is that Arizona-style legislation is both immoral and unscriptural.
The legislation is immoral because it threatens to tear families apart, destroy the lives of countless children and youth already living productive lives in our communities, and does nothing to advocate for a fair earned pathway to citizenship. The legislation is unscriptural because it ignores the biblical mandates to love our neighbors, to offer forgiveness, and to treat others the way we desire to be treated.