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BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#246326: Jun 20th 2018 at 10:52:50 AM

So we know all these conservative religions have been railling against Trump and the Republicans, from the Southern Baptists to Catholics and Mormons. But unsurprisingly, you know what religious organization isn't speaking out against it? Focus On The Family are maintaining radio silence about the decision over the objection of some of their own members. Full article text 

Six years ago, Jim Daly—president of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit devoted to evangelical causes—joined a conservative Christian coalition calling for immigration reform that “protects the unity of the immediate family.” “The time has come for Christians to lead on the issue,” Daly wrote on Focus’ website at the time, in a post that called immigration reform “a family issue.” But as outrage mounts against the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” approach to families seeking asylum at the Southern border, Focus on the Family has attempted to steer clear of taking a position. The organization’s Twitter account spent the weekend tweeting about Father’s Day, and the “social issues” page of its website has posts on the Masterpiece Cakeshop court decision and “talking to your children about transgender issues.”

The silence has been especially glaring because so many conservative Christian organizations and leaders see the situation at the border as a moral emergency. Groups including the Southern Baptist Convention and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have denounced the family-separation policy. Eight leaders of organizations including the National Association of Evangelicals and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities signed a letter on June 1 condemning the policy on the grounds that “God has established the family as the fundamental building block of society.” That letter was produced by the same group, the Evangelical Immigration Table, that produced the 2012 statement Daly signed. Though about 10,000 people have privately signed the June 1 statement after its release, according to the EIT, Daly was not among them.

The dissenters to the president’s new policy include Christians who share many of Focus’ values. “On this issue, there is dissension in the ranks,” one ex-employee told me. “There are a number of people who work there who are outraged.” On a press call on Monday hosted by the EIT, Focus’ former vice president of child advocacy, Kelly Rosati, condemned the policy in strong terms. “We do not punish innocent children for the behaviors of their parents,” she said. “I happen to think their parents are heroic for risking everything to try to get them what we all want for our kids. But even if you’re someone who doesn’t happen to think that way, you can still raise your voice on behalf of the innocent children.” (Rosati left Focus on the Family this year after 10 years.)

In response to an interview request last week, a Focus on the Family representative initially sent a brief statement on behalf of Daly. “We’re mindful of the fact that children being separated from their parents can be harmful and traumatic,” it read in part. “We’re following the current debate closely and awaiting the specifics of the proposed legislation intended to address these and other concerns related to immigration reform and border security.”

The representative confirmed that Daly was waiting on legislation that the House of Representatives is expected to vote on later this week. When I checked in on Monday to see whether Daly had had a chance to review the legislation, I was told not to expect any further statements in the near future. But then, midday on Tuesday, the representative sent a longer statement that he said Daly would be posting online later. The post notes that “seeing images of innocent, crying boys and girls in custody is enough to rip your heart out.” But it also uses the crisis as a springboard to discuss issues more firmly in Focus’ stable of pet issues:

Over the weekend, on Father’s Day, Planned Parenthood tweeted the following:

“In our hearts and minds today: all of the fathers and parents who have been separated from their children at borders. Keep families together … You deserve to be together regardless of immigration status. Keeping families together is reproductive justice.”

Are they serious?

Surely, this is the height of hubris. Planned Parenthood permanently separates children from their parents each and every day by taking the life of a child, to the tune of over 300,000 innocent lives a year. In fact, the most dangerous place for a child to be is in the womb of a woman inside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Tragically, children aren’t just being separated from a parent at abortion clinics or the southern border. Each and every day, millions of kids in the United States are living without a parent because of divorce, abuse, criminal activity, opioid or alcohol addiction or any number of other conditions outside their control. It would be a good thing if the same degree of energy we see exhibited for the border crisis was applied to the domestic crisis surrounding the American family.

The post does not mention President Donald Trump and says the crisis “has been years in the making, a complex consequence of bad policy, unenforced laws and an inability of politicians to make difficult and often unpopular decisions.” Its only calls to action are to move beyond social media sound bites, to pray for American leaders, and for government officials to “work together” for a solution that “preserves the integrity and sanctity of the family unit while also protecting our borders and assuring the safety of our citizens.”

Why would an organization whose mission is “helping families thrive” attempt to stay neutral on one of the most talked-about family-related policy issue of the moment? Conversations with former employees depict an organization beholden to a pool of donors that is white, suburban, aging, and loyally Republican. “The donor base doesn’t allow for the leadership to take a position on these really pivotal issues that could really truly propel the ministry forward, and show the world that we aren’t just this gay-hating organization,” said another former employee. “The donor base limits Focus’ ability to engage in conversations that could put people first and show the love of Christ in a more effective, compassionate way.” (The former employees I spoke with requested anonymity either because they continue to contribute to Focus’ work or because they do not want to jeopardize their relationships there. These interviews took place before Daly released his second, longer statement.)

Focus on the Family was founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, a lion of the original religious right, which was nearly indistinguishable from the Republican Party. The Colorado-based organization has defined family issues broadly over the years, with resources devoted to abstinence, healthy marriages, and parenting, along with political and cultural issues like abortion, gambling, pornography, school choice, intelligent design, and opposition to same-sex marriage. Dobson, who also founded the Family Research Council, stepped down as president and CEO of Focus on the Family in 2003. He has become a firm defender of the president: In January, the now-82-year-old called for a day of fasting and prayer to support Trump and prevent his impeachment.

When Daly became president of Focus on the Family in 2005, many observers saw him as a leader who could take the organization into the new millennium without compromising its core values. He loosened the dress code and said he would sit down with pro-choice activists who shared the goal of making abortion rare. He warned about the dangers of political polarization and of demonizing opponents, and emphasized the importance of “civil discourse.” In a 2011 Christianity Today cover story about Daly’s leadership, he told reporter Sarah Pulliam Bailey that immigration is a family issue precisely because families could be separated.

The next year, Daly signed the immigration reform statement issued by the EIT, which was widely discussed in the evangelical world at the time. (Back then, no one debated the line about protecting “the unity of the immediate family”; the statement was only controversial because of another item about immigrants’ path toward legal status.) The statement was not well-received by Focus’ donors, and discussion about the issue is now discouraged within Focus’ official publications. The first former employee I talked to described an erosion over time of Daly’s intentions—or at least his ability—to be a new kind of leader: “The people he has surrounded himself with in leadership were not on that page.” A recent Focus resource guide to issues relating to the “dignity and sanctity of every human life” included a slim chapter on immigration and refugee issues but omitted any mention of the statement Daly signed.

That former employee describes the problem at Focus as something larger than deference to a graying donor base. “It’s a nationalist worldview,” the ex-employee said. “It’s a worldview that has twisted politics and religion together for so long that they can’t distinguish one from the other.”

Though many evangelical leaders, including Franklin Graham, have spoken up against family separation over the past few weeks, white evangelicals tend to be hawkish on immigration in general. A Washington Post–ABC poll in January found that 75 percent of white evangelicals said “the federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants” is positive (compared with 46 percent of adults overall). But other polling shows a split between younger and older evangelicals on immigration policy, with younger evangelicals viewing immigration more warmly than their elders.

Several former Focus employees depicted Daly as struggling to straddle that gap while steering an organization with a $90 million budget that has faced several rounds of layoffs in the past decade. Having to maintain the loyalty of large donors has meant forgoing outreach to younger conservative Christians who are less loyal to the traditional Republican Party.

Looking ahead, that makes the organization’s weakness look like not just a moral error but a strategic one. “[Daly] has been the president for 10 years and we haven’t seen a big course-correct,” the second former employee said. “A lot of these pivotal conversations that could have set Focus up to be a major leader with younger evangelicals going forward, they’ve missed that ship. They’re still on the dock.”

I didn't realize that Daly was so good at Whataboutism, but I shouldn't be surprised from an evangelical leader.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#246327: Jun 20th 2018 at 10:59:32 AM

So...just when you think it couldn't get worse....

[[Immigrant children forcibly injected with drugs, https://www.revealnews.org/blog/immigrant-children-forcibly-injected-with-drugs-lawsuit-claim]]

[[Link for anyone doubting their legitimacy https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/reveal-center-for-investigative-reporting/]]

This is fucking horrifying.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:00:04 AM by TacticalFox88

New Survey coming this weekend!
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246328: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:00:15 AM

That's the irony, though.

The Evangelicals AREN'T whatabouting for the most part. They're taking a pretty clear and unambiguous stand about their disgust. Which is really underscoring how divisive this issue is. It makes the ones who are silent all the more conspicuous.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:00:47 AM by CharlesPhipps

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#246329: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:08:14 AM

[up][up] And if it's happening in one center, there's a chance it is happening in others.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Snipertoaster from Mind Your Business (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: If it's you, it's okay
#246330: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:10:44 AM

You know, I recently thought to myself "It could be worse, they could be killing them all". I think that says a lot about how bad the situation is. Plus, call me Captain Obvious, but Trump seems to be under duress to do something about this, and I don't feel confident about it at all. Especially with him trying to deflect responsibility to Congress. We can probably expect angry tweets calling immigrants (and Democrats) slime quite soon.

We can choose to be better.
danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#246331: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:13:31 AM

Remember how one of the most common arguments from the right were that letting in illegal immigrants costs money? Well, between the ramped up border security, "housing" for all the detainees, legal proceedings, and now all the medication they're apparently drugging the kids with, I'm pretty sure this is costing more tax dollars than simply letting them in would have, even if they did receive "welfare".

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246332: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:19:19 AM

the executive order idea was almost certainly fed to him by congressional Republicans who he just met with.

He also has a rally tonight, and between the immigration crisis and the investigation (his campaign manager just went to prision, and Cohen might be considering cooperation) it's going to be insane.

Tonight, Trump is going to step up to the podium at a rally and claim that he took a bold stand because Congress has done nothing... and then put a hold on the policy because he is so good-hearted...

...and then he'll fire up the crowd about how Congress better do their job.

Repubs are giving him a free pass to back away from his own policy under the cover of having gotten them to commit to giving him some big, major immigration reform.

They gave him a chance to claim he strong-armed them into owning the problem... and now they're on the clock.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:20:43 AM by megaeliz

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#246333: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:21:10 AM

[up]

That was my exact thought, too - but when it comes to punishing people, there's no limit to the price conservatives seem willing to pay, e.g. the cost of executing someone is a lot higher than just having them sit in prison for life, due to the appeals process getting utilized.

And with the "forcibly injected with drugs" article, one thing to point out is that they're reporting on the lawsuit, not the actual findings, which is a rather crucial difference to keep in mind before jumping the gun.

edited 20th Jun '18 12:28:08 PM by ironballs16

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246334: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:21:34 AM

I'm not at all certain Trump will do a damn thing.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#246335: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:23:40 AM

You shouldn't be, he's liable to change his mind later and go with "fuck the brown people".

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Reflextion from a post-sanity world (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
#246336: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:29:10 AM

I am certain that he'll find some way to double down on the evil douchebaggery, all the while screeching about how it's the fault of the illegals/Democrats/Fake News/illegal immigrant Democrats running the Fake News. And equally certain that the tools are going to lap it right the fuck up.

Someone did tell me life was going to be this way.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#246337: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:31:50 AM

I don't know, the evangelicals seem fairly opposed to it. If even 1/10 of his base decides to stay home during the midterms then things will likely go rather poorly for them. They're more or less all racists but that doesn't necessarily mean they're comfortable with child concentration camps.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#246338: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:36:37 AM
Thumped: Wow. That was rude. Too many of this kind of thump will bring a suspension. Please keep it civil.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#246339: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:39:59 AM

Immigrants (unauthorized or otherwise) being a drain on welfare and not paying into taxes was also a pretty big thing, from what I remember.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#246340: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:42:58 AM

It is pointless to treat claims made by the right as issues of fact that need to be rationally debated. That's not why they make them. It's a well-documented process of throwing so many claims into a debate, regardless of whether they are blatantly false, intentionally misleading, or drawing inaccurate conclusions from facts, that the other side is forced to spend all its time debunking and rebutting them lest it lose by default.

It's not just a right-wing tactic; it's used by extremists and flim-flam artists of all sorts, and it's used because it works.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:44:59 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#246341: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:44:40 AM

Both Republican-focused Immigration Bills appear to be in jeopardy as the last Teapublicans and the new Trumpeteers appear unwilling to sign either, due to both offering some form of protections for Dreamers. This would be the most likely explanation for why Trump is backing down from the Separation policy; he can't get Congress to do it for him.

So Dreamers are still in massive danger, and even if Democrats won both Chambers in 2018 they couldn't protect them because of Trump's veto. The only positive is that Republicans are planning on a separate bill to simply end the Separation Policy, and the Wall still isn't getting funded.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#246342: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:46:57 AM

And Trump is saying that Zero-Tolerance will continue, so the only change (supposedly) is that children and adults will be detained together.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#246343: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:50:06 AM

Trump's rally is in Duluth tonight. For those that don't know, that's four hours north of the Twin Cities. St. Louis County was pretty much split between Clinton and Trump (along with the usual sliver of third party votes), so reception could go either way. Although of course, the only ones we'll be seeing in his rally are the superfans.

I'm just glad he's not gonna be in the Twin Cities.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:53:09 AM by speedyboris

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246344: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:51:55 AM

It's kind of hilarious in a dark way the best way to get the children out of the concentration camps is to just pay their parents bail.

Money talks bigger than votes it seems.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#246345: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:52:51 AM

They're more or less all racists but that doesn't necessarily mean they're comfortable with child concentration camps.
They can't be obvious about their racism, that's just tacky.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246346: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:53:27 AM

I disagree as they've been very very obvious with their racism.

edited 20th Jun '18 11:53:53 AM by CharlesPhipps

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#246347: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:55:36 AM

[up][up]I was thinking more that racism is a question of degrees and someone can be racist and still horrified about child internment.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#246348: Jun 20th 2018 at 11:57:13 AM

Is it too much to hope for the EO to backfire and some Federal Judge deciding that since Kids can't be I. separated from their Parents (due to EO) and II. can't be detained for more than 20 days (per law), they all have to get released after 20 days?

"You can reply to this Message!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246349: Jun 20th 2018 at 12:09:40 PM

Depends on whether it's a Trump judge.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#246350: Jun 20th 2018 at 12:11:44 PM

Trump will be meeting Queen Elizabeth next month.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/20/politics/trump-queen-england-visit/index.html

Not too worried, she's dealt with worse. And hey, it might make Trump look like a moron just by comparison (not like that's hard).

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

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