Religion and Immigration

I was disappointed to see Nancy Pelosi calling on the Catholic Church to take an active stand for immigration amnesty.

Historically, the demographic make up of countries has been a driving force for religious tensions. This is especially true in Republics where there is a fear of religious hegemony.

Having the Catholic Church taking a stand on an issue that will swing power in its direction is not a positive thing.

In my reading of history, I discovered that many of the great "religious wars" in history coincided with demographic shifts. For that matter, many "religious wars" appear to have been more about politicians using changes in demographics to rise to power than about the theological disputes discussed by scholars.

Fortunately, during my life time, there has been less tension between Catholic and Protestants than in past generations.

The lowering of tensions has been due largely to a commitment to secularism on the parts of Christian churches.

Issues like immigration are something for secular state to decide and not for religions to decide.

Tensions between Protestants and Catholics have diminished to such an extent that many have forgotten that much of the historic conflict between the United States and Mexico was driven by religion.

Think about it. The race of Mexico is a combination of Western European and Native American. The racial make up is not that dramatically different from the mix of races in the United States … which, if anything, is a bit more diverse than Mexico.

The historic divide between the US and Mexican culture was a continuation of the Catholic/Protestant schism.

Reading historical texts, one finds a great deal of anti-papist sentiment in this nation.

The commitment to a secular government helped reduce religious tension and we created a wonderful country where people with different beliefs can live side by side.

Unfortunately, ancient tensions can resurface when there is a perception that any religious group is dinking with religious balance.

As such, the immigration debate is precisely the type of political issue that religions need to avoid.

Pelosi's cynical ploy to pull the Catholic Church head first into the debate is very negative development.

What's sad is that the nihilistic left works actively to diminish the role of religion in moral decisions at the personal level while actively encouraging religious involvement in areas such as immigration that have historically led to conflict.