Latino evangelicals are credited for helping re-elect President Bush, but their loyalty to the Republican Party waned after the failed immigration bill left them feeling abandoned by the GOP and more open to Democratic presidential candidates in this year’s election.
Many Latino evangelicals expressed that they are still undecided as they wait to hear candidates speak more about plans for the nation’s immigration problem. But memories of being shunned by the Republican Party during the immigration row still remain fresh in their minds.
“Democrats are saying, ‘Let’s talk about your family and your faith,’” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), to Christianity Today magazine. “They’re saying, ‘The other side doesn’t want you.’”
The NHCLC, which represents nearly 18,000 Latino evangelicals, is the sister organization of the National Association of Evangelicals.
In the United States, more than 8 million Americans identify themselves as Latino evangelicals, although there is no exact estimate on how many are registered voters. In 2004, President Bush received strong support from this constituency, when 64 percent of Latino evangelical voted for him.
But Republican candidates have not given up on courting Latino evangelical voters, despite the obstacles. Rodriguez said he has spoken to both former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) about Latino concerns, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Huckabee requested last month that Rodriguez organize a conference call with top Latino pastors and theologians to discuss their questions and concerns.
In Florida this week, McCain proved he is popular among Hispanic votes. Hispanic voters made up 10 percent of the vote in the GOP primary in Florida and Latino evangelicals compose about 40 percent of the Hispanic population in the state.
The current Republican frontrunner – who was one of the few Republicans who supported the immigration reform bill – received about half of the votes from those who described themselves as Cubans, and 51 percent of non-Cuban Hispanics voters, according to CNN.
On the Democratic side, Rodriguez said he reached out to the candidates first and called Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). He said the Obama campaign was open to the idea of a conference call with Latino pastors, while Clinton has not yet responded.
Besides immigration, Latino evangelicals are pushing other social issues and seeking to broaden the evangelical agenda.
“The agenda of the evangelical church in America has been two-fold since 1973: It has been sanctity of life and traditional marriage…It’s almost blasphemous to go beyond those two items,” Rodriguez said.
“Now, the Hispanic evangelical comes along and says there are other items that we need to look at. What about alleviating poverty, from a biblical view? What about health care and education? What about speaking against torture? What about human rights?”
Although Latinos tend to oppose gay “marriage” and believe that abortion should be illegal – more than two-thirds of Latinos in America are Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestants make up another 15 percent of the population – they also feel pulled to vote more liberal on immigration and economic policies.
“There’s no doubt Latinos in general, including Latino evangelicals, are more economically liberal,” said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, to Christianity Today. An ideal candidate for this group might be a “big government social conservative,” he noted.
Yet as Latino evangelicals continue to wrestle between their past and future loyalty, one thing that remains unchanged is the significance of this voting bloc.
“If the Republicans are able to recover support among Hispanic evangelicals, that could make them much more competitive,” commented John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, according to the Chicago Tribune. “On the other hand, if they can’t recover that support, it might make it difficult to win.”
Comments
Peace!
The civil rights movement dealt with unfair treatment OF CITIZENS. Black people as citizens with the full support of the law were enslaved, lynched at will, killed when they were given the right to vote, only legally because a complete person in recent days. Before then we were only 3/5 or a person. Again this treatment was by our government to legal citizens of the United States. The only group that suffered from those laws were blacks. Whites benefited from the system. The persecution came from our own government.
The illegal immigration situation is completely different. You have illegal immigrants that in many cases are demanding that they get special privileges that our own citizens do not get. In order to 'reach out to the stranger' you are raping every person in this country. People seem to forget that they are being exploited by our Christian president, businesses and churches for whatever their agenda is, probably linked to money and power somehow. The evangelical leaders should be putting forth their efforts to make them legal if they are really following the Bible. Then and only then they will not be exploited by businesses that are not paying good wages NOR paying payroll taxes as they have probably been told they were.
God is not pleased at any unfair treatment against anyone. However there is nothing in the Bible that says that you help others to your own hurt. Our government cannot afford what is being proposed. There is another agenda for this and it is NOT compassion for these precious people. I fault the leaders leading this rebellion. People can scream racism and lack of compassion all they want to. The ones that do not have compassion are the ones exploiting these people. If the current laws were being enforced they would not be exploited. Again they want to exploit them for their purposes instead of helping them become legal.
I'll say briefly that I take issue with the "the Bible is clear on this" notion. My Bible has loads to say about welcoming the strangers and aliens. I'm glad that those who fought for suffrage and child labor laws and civil rights didn't just fall in line with existing laws. Sometimes laws are wrong, and in our democracy, we have the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to assemble and speak freely, and some even choose civil disobedience (or as I call it, divine obedience). I suggest pgcfriend reads MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" for a great treatment of why it might not always be "Christian" to submit to the laws. He does a great job of chastising the white church for being more concerned about propriety than justice. Would God have us sit idly by while his children suffer? And maybe read the books of Leviticus, Amos, Micah, and the Gospels, too.
But that said, despite all my sadness and frustration at the evangelical race-to-the-bottom on immigration (upholding fallible human laws over human dignity and justice - I thought this was the group all about the sanctity of every life... unless, of course, someone is on Food Stamps or on death row or victim of the US's free trade agreements and thirst for global capital). But now, given news like that in this article, I say, "Please, Republicans and evangelicals, rush to denounce and show no compassion for 'illegals!' Alienate yourself from a key voting block! Help welcome in a Democrat to the White House and larger Dem majorities in Congress!"
Maybe then we can get some sensible comprehensive immigration reform passed (although I give Prez. Bush credit for getting one thing right - immigration), and while we're at it, reverse 7 years of unprecedented military spending while cutting quality social programs that help the poor and vulnerable. MLK also had a lot to say about spending on war and killing instead of loving and helping. So did good ol' GOP Pres. Eisenhower - "Bread, not bombs."
Everybody throws out this argument that because they are law breakers we should not support them. But our country has a history of law breaking that we praise.
I remember as a kid reading about the Boston tea party and what a great moment in history that was. Yet those people who through the tea over were breaking the law.
When slavery existed slaves were crossing from south to the north for freedom. Both the slaves and the people bringing them over, many of whom were Christians, were committing illegal acts.
And what about when Rosa Parks decided not to give up her seat to a white person. That was illegal. Yet I don't think any of us would argue that it was wrong to commit illegal acts in those situations.
So why do we accept these as okay yet are so adament about the illegal immigrants?
Christians, no matter the race, should be supporing what the word says. We are to obey the laws of the land, not encourage lawbreaking. if the evangelicals are truly following the word they should be encouraging those that are here illlegally to get legal, not petitioning the government to support unending lawbreaking. The Bible does teach mercy. It also teaches repentance for wrongdoing. You cannot have one without the other or you will have chaos. It is not fair to the other Christians here legally to suffer because of showing mercy to illegal immigrants that do not go through the process. It is not fair for us as a nation to give them benefits that most of us born here do not get. It would be one thing if we got the same treatment if we went to their countries illegally. In many foreign countries we would be immediately put in jail and/or deported, which is the law of the land here. Unfortunately our Christian president and many others refuse to enforce those laws.
2 Corinthians 8 speaks about the heart that we should have for giiving to others. It is not to be done with compulsion. It is not to be done where one group gives to their hurt to help another. All throughout the Bible it tells us not to lie, cheat or steal. Those here illegally are doing those things. If you are a Christian doing that you are going against the bible you say you are living by. If these pastors are truly Christians they should be encouraging the people to obey the laws of the land. It will go a lot easier for them. I humbly feel they are exploiting desperate people for their own gain. The love of money is the root of all evil. Many of them here illegally are probably being told garbage by these charlatan preachers and milking them of what little monies they have.
I know a couple from France that have tried everything to get corrent information to become legal. Whatever information they got they pursued it. Unfortunately in many cases they were given wrong information. They finally found an immigration attorney that gave them correct information. They both got their green cards and work permits a few months ago. This issue to me is not about their race, although the pimp pastors will use that against us. It is about fairness and following the Bible. Watching what this couple have gone through has hardened me on this issue. If they can scrap, fight and vigorously claw throught the maze to get the proper information to come here legally any other person can do the same. If we are talking about Christian principles it is pretty clear what the bible says. It is up to these evagelicals to decide if they will obey the Bible or if they wil punish politicians that disobey the bible. Pretty hypocritical to me.
Calling me racist is a waste of words. The Bible speaks for itsefl. I can understand those that are not Christians thinking like this. I do not understand those that claim they are following the Bible endorsing this.