From Deseret News archives:

Debate resumes over illegal immigrants' status in LDS Church

Some question granting of temple rights, baptism

Published: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 12:14 a.m. MST
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Comments made by an LDS Church leader this week again stirred debate in Mormon circles about whether the church should baptize illegal immigrants or allow them to enter its temples.

"The church's view of someone in undocumented status is akin, in a way, to a civil trespass," said Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, relating it to coming onto someone's property uninvited. "There is nothing inherent or wrong about that status."

Elder Jensen's comment came Wednesday during an interfaith forum on immigration at Westminster College in response to an audience question.

The LDS Church has no official policy on illegal immigration nor does it ask local clergy to question prospective converts or members seeking temple privileges about their citizenship status.

"The church does not see itself as an enforcement agency," Mark Tuttle, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Thursday, repeating earlier church statements.

That doesn't sit well with some Latter-day Saints who wonder why the church baptizes people and issues temple recommends to members who live in the country illegally. To qualify for a recommend, they must avow to a bishop and a stake president that they are honest in their dealings with others.

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Some members can't reconcile church membership and illegal status, particularly in light of one of the church's Articles of Faith that states, "We believe ... in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law."

"I wonder how they'd feel about the second great commandment, to love thy neighbor as thyself. It's not an answer to your question, but it's another question. Sometimes it's hard to do them all," Tuttle said.

Discussion about how local church leaders deal with undocumented immigrants arose on the heels of remarks Elder Jensen made earlier this week.

Speaking on behalf of the First Presidency at the interfaith forum, Elder Jensen asked Utah lawmakers to consider proposed immigration legislation with a "spirit of compassion." He called for a more "thoughtful and factual, not to mention humane, approach" to the issues.

The Legislature is debating a string of get-tough-on-illegal-immigration bills including measures to revoke driver privilege cards and repeal in-state tuition options at state colleges and universities.

While reiterating the LDS Church is politically neutral, Elder Jensen noted that immigration is not only a political issue but a moral and ethical one.

Addressing the matter of baptism and temple rights for undocumented immigrants, Elder John C. Pingree, an Area Seventy, told the Deseret Morning News in 2005, "It's not a problem for me."

Recent comments

Dont forget the Church told German memebers during WW2 to obey the...

Chirs from California | May 31, 2009 at 5:25 a.m.

I want my country to protect our boarders and keep illegles from...

CougarKeith | April 26, 2009 at 12:06 a.m.

I dont have a problem with anyone who wants to come to this country...

bob | April 25, 2009 at 11:38 p.m.

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