I just received the following e-mail concerning the National Day of Non-Compliance with SB 1070. I was asked to share a few of the faith-based resources that offer a different perspective on the immigration law in Arizona. So, rather than reinventing the wheel – an act for which I have zero free time – I’ll just share the e-mail, in its entirety as a resource.
Hi Shawn,
I noticed that you blog about Unitarian Universalists and thought you might be interested in an update on what is happening on the ground in Arizona. I am writing from Standing on the Side of Love (SSL), a campaign of the Unitarian Universalist Association, that challenges violence, oppression, and exclusion based on identity.
Almost 200 Standing on the Side of Love supporters from across the country are on the ground in Phoenix today, and dozens of communities across the country are hosting prayer vigils and similar actions to stand in solidarity with immigrants and people of color against SB 1070 and a broken immigration system. Two dozen ministers, including UUA president Rev. Peter Morales have already been arrested today in civil disobedience in Phoenix.
We feel that the Arizona bill and others like it are anti-immigrant, anti-family, and anti-love. That is why Unitarian Universalists are joining immigrant rights, interfaith, labor, and civil rights organizations in protest and witness as part of the National Day of Non-Compliance with SB 1070.
I wanted to point you to some resources that could be useful for you in gaining a faith-based perspective on the immigration law in Arizona:
∗ Standing on the Side of Love, Unitarian Universalist Association
∗ You can find more information about SSL’s actions today and this weekend on our website: http://bit.ly/dlOakU and http://bit.ly/bbPjyb
∗ We are live tweeting from the ground in Arizona from our Twitter handle @SideofLove: http://twitter.com/sideoflove
∗ You can find a brief video clip from the Interfaith Worker Justice wage theft action SSL participated in yesterday in Mesa, AZ here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1EOq0atCQc
∗ You can also find information about the SSL solidarity vigils around the country here: http://bit.ly/dbKaksAlso, if you’d like further information, I’d be happy to put you in touch with a UUA or Standing on the Side of Love spokesperson.
While several of the worst components of the SB 1070 bill were temporarily stopped by Judge Bolton’s injunction yesterday, the broken immigration system that precipitated SB 1070 remains in place and will continue to break up families and instill fear in immigrant communities.
As our campaign director, Dan Furmansky has said, “The millions of undocumented individuals in this country are human beings, not political footballs, and they deserve the same love and compassion any of us would hope to see for ourselves and our families.”
If this content doesn’t seem appropriate this time around, we will continue to enjoy reading your blog, and are always happy to provide you with a faith-based perspective on immigration reform and social justice.
Best regards,
Kelly
On behalf of Standing on the Side of Love
Approaching the immigration issue from a faith-based perspective pushes us all towards differences invested in a deeper sort of spiritual empathy than is afforded by purely economic, legal, or legislative approaches. We, as people of faith, should seriously consider the catalyzing differences faith ignites in our discussions about other human beings. God would like that, I’m sure.