SACRAMENTO, California, Aug. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), the world’s largest Hispanic Christian organization, representing millions of Evangelicals worldwide, today made the following statement regarding the decision of Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) to amend California bill SB 1146:
“Religious liberty stands as the quintessential firewall again secular totalitarianism. Accordingly, we are grateful that Sen. Ricardo Lara modified the legislation of California Senate Bill 1146. Without a doubt, the unmodified version would have jeopardized Christian institutions and egregiously penalized all students of faith, especially Latino and African-American individuals.
“As an organization committed to fighting all vestiges of intolerance, bigotry, discrimination and hatred, we hope and pray that future legislative proposals will engage the faith community in a viable conversation that will protect the rights of all.”
The NHCLC serves as a representative voice for the more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and hundreds of thousands of additional congregations spread worldwide throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora. Seeking to reconcile evangelist Billy Graham’s message of salvation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march of prophetic activism, the NHCLC emphasizes “7 Directives” of Life, Family, Compassionate Evangelism, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth. For additional information, visit http://www.nhclc.org.
Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120912/CL72800LOGO