SALT LAKE (ABC 4 News) - Utah's Attorney General is now urging the LDS Church to come
out in opposition to Arizona's controversial new immigration law.
And Mark Shurtleff also tells ABC 4 News that, unless the LDS Church does so, a similar law is likely to pass here.
Shurtleff is LDS but he makes clear he isn't speaking for the Church.
Still, he's worried about what will happen if the Church doesn't speak out for itself.
Tuesday, ABC 4 asked Shurtleff:
"Are you saying, you want the Church to come out against the Arizona Law?”
To which he responded:
“I think that would help stop an Arizona style law here, if they would definitely come out against the Arizona style law."
When ABC 4 again repeated it as a yes or no question, Shurtleff said,
"I've said that I want to see the LDS Church come out against the Arizona law.”
According to Utah's Attorney General, the LDS Church now has an immigration perception problem.
And it does, he says, because the legislator who sponsored Arizona's new, tough immigration law is LDS.
"I have a lot of friends and associates, the Attorney General of Arizona I speak to all the time, there has been a backlash
against the LDS Church because it was sponsored by Mormons."
Shurtleff also says he hears over and over again from other Mormons about the LDS Twelfth Article of Faith.
It says, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”
Utah's Attorney General also hints that LDS legislators may be among those talking to him about this.
"They consistently get on me saying if I'm not out there rounding up every illegal alien in the state,
then I'm not obeying my own article of faith."
As for the LDS Church, it has not taken an official position on immigration.
But, in an earlier statement, it did urge compassion when dealing with this issue.
