WASHINGTON— Not since the civil rights movement have religious leaders seen such a uniform call to pray and protest. The recent push for immigration reform has united many faith groups. But the difficult decision of taking that one step more by boycotting Arizona businesses hasn’t yet been fully embraced.
“Without any debate, we have come to the same side of this issue,” said United Church of Christ minister John Dorhauer of the widespread collaboration. “We don’t do that when we talk about abortion or gay marriage. Those have been very painful dialogues.”
A group of big-name faith leaders from Arizona embodied this coalescence when they met with Congress earlier this month. The advocates voiced their support for border security and opposition to their state’s immigration bill. They say it has already led to harsh racial profiling and church attendance declines in the 30 percent range among immigrant congregations. Leaders from the Methodist, Evangelical and Catholic communities have since continued to work together, banding together around marches and vigils. But only the United Church of Christ is spearheading the boycott effort as a means to prevent the bill from taking effect.
“Moral and ethical arguments aren’t enough of an impact,” said Dorhauer during a phone interview Thursday from the UCC’s biannual cabinet meeting in Cleveland. “The only effective impact is economic impact.”
Dorhauer and six other ministers amped up the boycott strategy last week when they sent a letter to the UCC Southwest Conference’s 38 ministers listing its three targets:
- Don’t schedule business or meetings in Arizona, the former go-to destination for winter events.
- Ask Arizona church congregants to host UCC members to avoid supporting local hotels.
- Compile and distribute a list of immigrant-owned restaurants so UCC members can only frequent those establishments
“It is going to have a profound impact on business owners,” Dorhauer said. “That was the intent and will continue to be the intent of the boycott.”
The UCC was the first to call for boycott, Dorhauer said, the day after the bill was signed. A majority of its 180-voting members favored relocating next year’s Southwest conference from Arizona to New Mexico. A move Dorhauer “guesstimates” will cost Arizona about $125,000.
Though the votes have passed swiftly, the attack on purse strings has also caused some contention within the UCC. The original host of the 2011 Southwest Conference, a church in Sun City, Ariz., felt especially miffed.
Dorhauer said the UCC is going to great lengths to address its dissenters’ concerns and is also continuing to promote the role of faith-based protest. Members will participate in a march in Phoenix at the end of the month.
Episcopal Bishops faced a similar conflict that the UCC confronted. They too, had a weeklong conference scheduled in Arizona, in September. Some expressed interest in boycotting, but the group ultimately decided to use the opportunity to stand in solidarity with the state and keep the meeting in Phoenix.
“They just wanted to take a strong stand,” said Greta Huls of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona’s communications department. “They will be supporting the people who work the lower paid jobs. They can learn first hand of what’s happening and make a more educated statement.”
The conference, which usually attracts about 200 bishops and their spouses, will add two days onto the schedule so that they have time travel to the border to observe the conditions there.
The United Methodist Church and the Interfaith Immigration Coalition have also shied away from pursuing any coercive measures, focusing instead on its spiritual responsibilities. The two groups echoed this sentiment during a conference call on the topic Friday afternoon.
“The boycott will only extend our recession by three to five years and hit those who are poorest among us,” said Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano of Phoenix. “People have to follow their conscious. For some, the only place they can stand is a place of boycott and we respect that.”
Moderators introduced their faith-based strategy—the Isaiah 58 National Solidarity Vigil and Fast for Arizona. Organizers chose Isaiah 58 for its message of removing the yoke of injustice.
Leading up to the bill’s potential enactment, from June 6 to July 28, a group of states will be assigned one week to partake in private and public prayer. When faith groups and individuals sign up to take their passages to the streets, statehouses, schools and detention centers, they also sign a petition addressed to Gov. Jan Brewer. The vigil concludes with a three-day fast July 30 to August 1.
Carcano stressed that prayer plays an especially critical role in this situation.
“The majority [of the immigrant community] have survived on faith,” Carcano shared. “For us to be joining from faith perspective is a powerful partnership.”
Though the Interfaith Coalition hasn’t joined the boycott battleground, it isn’t a stranger to such tactics. Its members have engaged in this kind of protest in the past to fight poor worker conditions, for example.
“I wont entirely rule it out,” said United Methodist Church director, Bill Mefford of the boycott prospect. “Too often, they have to feel it economically to pay attention.”
Mefford, however, doesn’t doubt the value in organizing and participating in vigils even if they may not move Brewer.
“I have to believe that’s what God has called us to do. Everything we do, we do in the spirit of prayer,” Mefford offered. “Do I see her at the end of 90 days falling on knees and urging this be revoked? Probably not. But it’s not impossible.”