Sunday, December 24, 2006

Your Mainline Christmas Sermon: Immigration and Social Justice

In a letter to members it was pointed out by Roy Beck, Executive Director of NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation, and recipient of the first United Methodist Communicator of the Year award as Associate Editor of the United Methodist Reporter, that many religious leaders will use their microphones and pulpits to advocate for open borders and for the “rights” of illegal immigrants, “to decry the raids and to equate illegal aliens with Mary and Joseph and their newborn babe.”

It is a shame that the religious leadership would not be standing beside us and against outlaw businesses' efforts drive down the incomes of working-class Americans and their families. But to have so many standing on the side of the economic oppressors is truly disheartening.

I completely concur with Beck’s statements. I know well of what he speaks. I earned my Masters in Theology from a highly esteemed liberal Protestant seminary not long ago. Every attempt to indoctrinate me in the ways of socialistic-style social justice failed miserably. Fortunately, I already had a strong background in traditional Christian theology, an understanding of what it means to be an American, and enough years of experience not to be easily intimidated.

Before I entered the seminary, I was somewhat politically naive. That changed rapidly as I learned that theology and politics are intimately linked. For years mainline seminaries have functioned as the religious arm of the far left progressives. Admission of any conservative political bent is literally the kiss of death. No doubt there are many closet conservative professors who would not long survive if their personal politics were known. Students hoping for plumb assignments following ordination are well-aware of which sides their daily bread is buttered.

Just as few Americans are very much aware of the growing influence of Islamofascism on American politics, even fewer Americans are aware of the Marxist trends (born of Liberation Theology) that are fast overcoming mainline denominations and informing new ministers in mainline Protestantism! Catholics and Evangelicals are not immune to this growing trend either.

Read Roy Beck's response printed in the liberal protestant (pro-amnesty) Christian Century Magazine.

Here’s an excerpt:

But Mr. Ufford-Chase’s approach to handling the illegal immigration problem in this country displays the huge blind-side that most mainline church national leaders have on the immigration issue by promoting the idea that illegal immigration is a victimless crime. While focusing on poor people in other countries who wish to break the law to get into this one, he ignores poor people and lower-middle-class people in this country for whom immigration laws are most clearly designed. The Supreme Court in the past has ruled that the chief reason for our immigration laws is to protect workers. Mr. Ufford-Chase does mention the issue of job displacement and quickly dismisses it. And then he brings up the issue of wage depression and speaks admiringly of Fed Chairman Greenspan’s suggestion that we should have high immigration in order to hold down wages. I frankly am amazed to see Mr. Ufford-Chase think that is a worthy aim. . .

In covering and commenting on the immigration issue, you should at the least consider that in the last public act of her illustrious life of public service, Barbara Jordan led a bi-partisan national commission that concluded that illegal immigration should be eliminated to the extent possible and that legal immigration should be dramatically reduced in numbers. The reason, Jordan said, was that the numerical level of immigration is so high that it serves as a tool of economic injustice against the most vulnerable members of our community.
(bold emphasis added)

Beck gives us all some good advice. Don’t let this kind of sermon go unchallenged! Speak to your minister, or if you feel too shy to speak directly, write a short note and drop it in the offering plate or comments basket in the foyer.”

Bring it up as a discussion issue in Sunday school class!

If you are deeply concerned about illegal immigration, join NumbersUSA

Trackbacked to:

Woman Honor Thyself, Right Truth

13 comments:

  1. hi there...great great point u make..and this........“to decry the raids and to equate illegal aliens with Mary and Joseph and their newborn babe.”...thats beneath contempt!

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  2. Great commentary on the state of mainline churches! Of course, the religious and political idealogies of seminarians has always been much more left leaning and progressive than those of the practicing clergy. Fortunately, just like you, there must be a great number of ministers and leaders that have not bought into those same idealogies, else the mainline churches would be in a lot worse shape than they are today. I like your encouragement of Sunday School class discussion, because it is clear to me that the beliefs of the majority of members of mainline churches do not necessarily agree (at least internally) with those of their leadership. However, silence and apathy are hard to overcome, and instead of working from inside to either promote positive change or resist left leaning change, over the past several decades, many church members have silently slipped away from attendance.

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  3. WomanHonorThyself
    Unfortunately many pastors have been conditioned to look at only one side of the issue. They sincerely believe in what they are preaching. Theological reading materials, parish study guides, and most mainline denominational literature fails to present anything but the liberal-progressive viewpoint. Much work needs to be done at the parish level today to educate congregations about both sides of social justice issues – especially immigration.

    Anonymous:

    Thank you both for your fine comments. The mainline churches have been losing membership for a number of years. Yes, I agree that the beliefs of the majority of members of mainline churches do not necessarily agree with the far left. Unfortunately, the membership is not only dwindling, it is graying rapidly. The remaining youth are indoctrinated in Sunday school with denominationally published left-leaning materials. This is all very subtle and it takes time for what happens in the seminaries to filter down to the parish level. But make no mistake; the seminaries and denominational level leadership are marching in lock-step toward socialism through wide-open (unquestioning) social-justice because their only hope for renewed membership will come through those who have been marginalized.

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  4. I agree with you. I experienced the same thing in Southern Baptist seminary courses for Religious Education Ministry. I was very lucky to only have a few 'liberal' professors and just one who was completely a wingnut. My husband experienced similar professors in Medical school, specifically the sciences and psychology related fields. We just have to stand our ground.

    One professor failed my hubby in his psychology course and my husband had to go back and retake the course during the summer under another professor, rather than give in to the liberal demands of that professor. We have to take stands.

    Thanks for the mention and link, I'll return the favor.

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  5. Debbie:

    I had no idea that this infiltration of leftist progressivism had extended into the Southern Baptist seminaries as well! Your husband probably did what I did: stand your ground, take your lumps, and stick it out so that you have earned the right to legitimately criticize! God Bless Him and you!!!

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  6. Trackbacks on all TypePad blogs are moderated and must be approved. I have approved yours and others. I check in several times a day and approve trackbacks. It's a pain, but that's the way TypePad is doing things now. I'm to technically challenged to change to anything else. ha Merry Christmas

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  7. Merry Christmas, Faultline!

    I find it truly a shame that those in the pulpits, who should be "feeding My [Jesus'] sheep," are poisoning them when it comes to political issues (and often other issues).

    Then, you have liberal professors poisoning countless young men training for the ministry with this propaganda, so that they might go out and spread the professors' influence.

    Then again, these professors and pastors are often very off-base in purely theological issues as well. The line seems to be becoming increasingly clear and un-mixed: liberal in theology, liberal in politics; conservative in theology, conservative in politics.

    By the way, I think that the whole "Mary and Joseph" thing is a crack-up. It reminds me an awful lot of Hilary Clinton's "Jesus was an illegal immigrant" (or something like that) statement. These people seem to have no concept of the Roman Empire.

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  8. Did she say Jesus was an illegal immigrant or the Good Samaritan? I can't remember.

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  9. Debbie:

    Thanks for that info that trackbacks on TypePad must be approved. I have little knowledge about the other side of trackbacking because Blogger doesn’t provide trackbacks. I’ve been using Wizbang manual trackbacker but in the last couple of days Haloscan trackbacks won’t work. I suspect that Haloscan has figured out a way to keep the trackbacking impaired from bypassing registering with Haloscan to trackback. Thanks for the approval!

    Kingdom Advancer:

    You are correct, “liberal in theology, liberal in politics; conservative in theology, conservative in politics.” Since you brought up Hillary, let’s put it this way. I can’t count the times in Seminary that her book, “It Takes a Village,” was touted as an example of Christian community. I remember that one of the twisted “Christian” notions put forth was that “Individual salvation is quite impossible without community.” We could say that, of course, that’s true to some extent in that you can’t be a Christian while living in a vacuum, but it went well beyond that towards communal salvation. The other twisted Marxist notion was the constant questioning of whether a capitalist could ever be a true Christian!

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  10. "The other twisted Marxist notion was the constant questioning of whether a capitalist could ever be a true Christian!"

    Wow. That's pretty much all I can say about that.

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  11. Hola, amigos... Yes, we're here... We're here!

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  12. And you have TRACKBACKS!!!!!!!!!! Congrats.

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  13. Spree

    You are a wonder worker. Thanks so much for getting my trackbacks going!!!

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