I appreciate that but in supporting the section 8 stuff it was going to affect everyone not just LDS members . i know several active Mormons who didn’t agree with this action and checked to make sure that none of their regular tithing was going to under write this action. Most religions state the same ie that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but ordinary people, especially those who have Gay family members are not happy about this church or any church for that matter, interfering with civil matters.

The thing is Liz, at the time this wasn’t a law. It was to make same sex marriage legal. So therefore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wasn’t going against their belief about sustaining the laws of the land. There wasn’t a law yet. What they were opposing was the belief about marriage that Prop 8 was all about. The LDS religion believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman only.

I served a mission in the United States, Spanish speaking, in the Southern states. The largest branch I served in had roughly 100 people on a given Sunday and 2 families were legal.

I served as a Zone Leader for about 1 year of my mission and a District Leader for 3 months after that. In those two positions I conducted a lot of baptismal interviews. In every interview I would try to get to know the interviewee a little bit and would always ask them to tell me their story of how they got to the United States (99% of the time this was how they got in “illegally”). You may say that’s an inappropriate question, but from their answers I truly believe that many of them were lead to this country and aided in their coming by the power of God. There were some amazing stories of miracles helping these people get to our country.

So in this one man’s opinion, why does the church allow “illegals” to be baptized? Because God wants them to be here. And if we believe and teach this to be a promised land, then God can lead anyone here who he sees fit to inherit this land.

Know you are not the only one who takes issue with this matter. People, especially, those who have come here legally feel the exact same way you do. In other countries in the world, your children do NOT automatically get citizenship, because they were born in that country. At least one of the parents must be a citizen to have claim on the same for their children.

Personally, having someone related to me who was stabbed by some guy, who was likely a member of a local gang AND an illegal immigrant, doesn’t help the matter, either. It rather intensifies the idea that we need to obey the laws of the land or face the consequences.

However, I am not in a position to make laws or enforce them. On the other hand, if I was, I would pray long and hard about the issue and do only as I was instructed by the Spirit. There are two reasons for this:

1. The Lord is in charge here, not me.
2. These same “illegal immigrants” are sons and daughters of God, whom He loves, too.

Sharee, how much do you want the Church to dig into your life to determine how honest you are? Illegal immigration is not a felony. I think a first offense is not even a misdemeanor. It’s akin to a traffic violation. For those who become, or already are members of the Church, they are probably here to make a better life for their families (as opposed to the drug runners and other violent criminals). If they are committing other crimes (ID theft, etc.), that is a different issue (for one it’s a felony). I think our leaders are more concerned with souls and making temple covenants than documentation violations. I say this as someone who would love to see a fence built and America’s borders made more secure, but also as someone who sustains our leaders and their desire to help our brothers and sisters in every country and circumstance in which they may be.