Are we done with them yet?

Imagine your neighbors being targeted and arrested without cause, simply because they are Latino. Then, imagine undocumented immigrants being paraded in shackles across town to publicly humiliate them in front of media cameras. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona’s Maricopa County creates dehumanizing scenes like these on a regular basis.

According to The Arizona Republic, Sheriff Arpaio's track record includes immigration sweeps that target anyone “guilty of looking Latino,” entering private homes without warrants, taking mothers from their children during traffic stops, and parading shackled detainees in front of the news media.

Arpaio calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” but not only are his practices of racial profiling discriminatory, they are downright ineffective. As a result of his obsessive focus on the Latino population, his county has more than 40,000 outstanding felony warrants, and 911 response times have worsened, making his county a less safe place for all people.

Think abuses in Maricopa County are only a local concern? Think again. Sheriff Arpaio illustrates the dangerous consequences of our broken national immigration system. Since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot effectively enforce our current laws, it gives authority—and your federal taxpayer dollars—to local officials. Some local agencies use this power responsibly; others, like Sheriff Arpaio, do not.

Sheriff Arpaio once said, “Do you think I’m going to report to the federal government? I don’t report to them. If they don’t like the contract, they can close it up.” Couldn’t agree with his suggestion more, but ending his contract is not enough: a deeper investigation is in order.

Join prominent members of Congress and the Mayor of Phoenix in requesting a Justice Department investigation into “discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches, and arrests” of Latinos by Sheriff Arpaio. [Sojourners]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of."

So what's America's greatest threat? The weakest economy in 80 years? Widespread layoffs, bank collapses, meltdown in the auto industry and a housing crisis?

Not according to Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars. In a recent interview obtained by HRC, he says America's greatest threat is the LGBT community. He goes on to call lesbian and gay relationships "abominations" and claims LGBT people lack morals. Watch now >>

In the interview, Sen. Buttars calls LGBT people "the meanest buggers I've ever seen" – this kind of rhetoric creates an atmosphere of hatred that incites violence against LGBT Americans.

Here are a few more lowlights from Buttars' rant:

• LGBT people "are destroying the Constitution."
• Their "number one goal is to proselytize to youth" and use schools as "a recruiting station."
• Thanks to them we are, "moving toward a society that has no morals."
• They will "destroy the foundation of American society... In my mind, it is the beginning of the end."

What's more, Sen. Buttars also takes clear pride in saying he's "killed" every piece of pro-equality legislation in Utah for eight years.

Call on Utah's Senate President to publicly condemn Sen. Buttars' remarks immediately. [HRC]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's talk poverty:

Want to find out how people have voted in your state or district? Go to this interactive map at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law’s Poverty Scorecard to find out how your representatives voted. Bet you can guess, but in case your imagination is lacking here's TN's to the right. How anyone with any speck of decency could vote against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, I'll never understand.

Of course in each of these instances they're all Republicans. All this party knows is how to alienate, discriminate, and harm what they consider as "the other." Whether it's immigrants or gays or the poor, time and time again the leadership on all levels, state, local, and federal we continue to see this kind of bigotry and xenophobia, fearmongering and divisive speech serving as fodder for the least of our nature going so far as to result in physical and psychological violence, systemic injustice and widespread rights violations against those on the outside of power.

For Jesus and the prophets before, true righteousness consisted of deeds of love, mercy and justice, especially to the most vulnerable. This had slipped from the center of tradition in Jesus’s day and the focus from the Pharisees was on ritual purity of which Jesus had very little interest. Jesus said our righteousness must go beyond theirs and made a huge emphasis on expanding our circle of love to include strangers and even enemies. This was the true standard of holiness: to practice communal hospitality, so that the burden is shared within the body of Christ rather than being carried by one individual, to help our brothers and sisters in need, not to divide one as “stranger” or “other", to love God, our neighbor as ourselves, Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God. The Republican party, the party of the 'older brother' from the Prodigal story knows nothing of these things. And the cooption of religion in this country under their moniker is perhaps one of the greatest scams ever committed. To use Sen. Buttars's own language:

"They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of."

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." [Matthew 25:31-46]

P.S. for my Libertarian friends: