I am waiting with great anticipation to see what leaders in my church will say publicly about the Arizona anti-immigration law. If I understand it right, SB 1070 makes it a felony for citizens to offer simple humanitarian aid to undocumented persons in Arizona. I don’t know very many people in Arizona, but I remember seeing churches all over the place when I have visited there. Presumably many of those churches have made food available to destitute people. The law is written (and will take effect in August) in such a way that giving aid of any kind to an undocumented person is a felony offense. Presumably, the church’s soup kitchen will now have to see proof that hungry people have appropriate papers before they can offer food, and if people in need are without documents churches are required by law to turn them away. If they feed someone or offer aid in any way to undocumented people, they break the law. I remember stopping in Phoenix one summer evening when the temperature was 98 degrees at ten o’clock at night. Arizona gets hot. When the heat rises this summer it will be a felony offense to give water to an undocumented thirsty person. Even giving aid to the children of undocumented people will be a felony when the law goes into effect.

Through many years of being to some extent in a lover’s quarrel with the church, I never imagined that churches or synagogues or mosques or temples in any state in America would be required by law to decline to offer aid or shelter to people in need. Of course, I don’t think it was the intent of the writers of the bill in Arizona to require people in any religion to retreat from their commitment to being compassionate and kind. It is an unsophisticated piece of legislation formulated and agreed to by frustrated people who didn’t think about what their new law will require people to do. They did not think through the implications of their law, but that doesn’t excuse them. They have created a legal situation which is in opposition to the basic examples and teachings of the founders of all of the world's great religions. We are told by Jesus to love one another. He told us that when we give water to a thirsty person, we give it to him. The thought that we would be required to check the thirsty person’s immigration status is absurd.

Nothing is more basic to my faith than simple human kindness. What recourse would I have if I were a citizen of Arizona and my state could punish me for following the basic teachings of Jesus. I hope I should have the courage to follow the Golden Rule even if the law requires me to violate it.