WWJD / Losing my religion

Carlos Hernandez (left) and Jack Louman sing in the front row of City Bible Church in Tigard.

It's Sunday morning, a good time to share two articles that I read this week.

The first -- "What would Jesus do about immigrants?" -- was published in the Portland Tribune, a twice-weekly newspaper. The second -- "Organized religion sees numbers fall" -- was published in today's Sunday Opinion in The Oregonian.

They're not directly related but each did give me pause for reflection, and maybe they will for you, too.

In the Tribune article by Steve Law, I was pleasantly surprised to read of Tim Nashif and Kevin Mannix, two Republican stalwarts long associated with conservative political causes in Oregon, speak with compassion about illegal immigrants, in stark contrast to most state and national GOP leaders.

At a time when no issue seems more polarizing and paralyzing for U.S. politicians, Nashif, Mannix and a surprising number of other conservative Christians are taking what some might call a liberal position on illegal immigrants in our midst.

“The real hard-line approach of identify them and kick them out, I think a lot of people feel that that’s a little bit harsh.” says Nashif, a pastor at City Bible Church and longtime fixture in the Multnomah County Republican Party leadership. ...

“If I see a human being in distress,” says Mannix, a devout Catholic and former state GOP chairman, “my instinct is to help him, not to question his status.

“Liberal Democrats seem to say ‘let’s hand ’em citizenship papers, and conservative Republicans say let’s hand ’em deportation papers.’ There should be a middle ground.”

Nashif has been a leading opponent of same-sex marriage and Mannix instrumental in passage of overly punitive mandatory sentencing laws that have filled our prisons to capacity, so I was stunned when I read of their views on immigration. I'm encouraged to see them putting their religious values into practice in positive ways. If more folks did so, maybe organized religion wouldn't be shedding as many members as it has in recent years.

In The Oregonian article, William Lobdell reports that the "unaffiliated" category of faith is the fastest-growing "religion" in America, according to a 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The Pew report found that one in six American adults was not affiliated with any particular faith. That number jumped to 25 percent for people ages 18 to 29. Moreover, most mainline Protestant denominations have for years experienced a net loss in members, and about 25 percent of cradle Catholics have left their childhood faith, the study showed. 

Why?

Evidently, church-goers aren't much different from other Americans when it comes to moral behavior, which suggests many people who call themselves Christian don't really believe in the tenets of their faith. As a result, Lobdell writes, "the sea of hypocrisy between Christian beliefs and actions is driving Americans away from the institutional church in record numbers."

Interesting reading. Thoughts, anyone?

Photo: Christopher Onstott, Portland Tribune