During the message last Sunday, the pastor invited a speaker to talk about immigration. NewSong is going through a series called Purple Politics; purple because it's the color you get when you combine red and blue. The messages were supposed to present issues in a balanced manner to foster discussion. However, last week, the guest ended up being an activist for illegal immigration. He pretty much hit all the talking points of the immigration lobby and gave out a bunch of one-sided statistics.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions but I was hoping that the message was balanced as originally advertised, instead of being 99% towards one side of the issue. I had two main problems with the discussion. First, the pastor told us to use the word "undocumented worker" instead of "illegal alien." That's total PC (political correctness) crap. The label absolves people of responsibility and potential consequences of their actions. Undocumented implies that the fix is documentation, not the fact that laws were broken. We don't call people who drive when their license is suspended "undocumented drivers." The pastor and the speaker also intentionally confused the issue by asking the congregation whether their parents were immigrants. Being an Asian church, a lot of hands went up. Again, that's total crap. My parents were immigrants, three times. First to Taiwan from China/Malaysia, then to Canada, and then here to the USA. Each time, we filed paperwork, waited, and followed rules and regulations. To group legal immigrants together with illegal immigrants is an insult to those of us that respect the rule of law.
Again, people can believe in whatever they want. However, when it's presented as a sermon message, and reprinted in the church bulletin, it becomes the church's position. I'm pretty rigid about respecting laws and personal responsibility; this runs counter to both. I am really disappointed since I was one of the original volunteers that helped plant the church several years ago and spent many 12+ hour weekends moving equipment and running the sound board. I knew it was a liberal leaning church with lots of college students/recent grads that haven't been paying too much taxes. Until now however, the messages have been fairly balanced when discussing politics.
I did write an email to the pastor and he replied that we should talk, though I'm not sure if there's much to talk about. It's really up to me whether I want to stay at a church that advocates positions on issues that I'm passionately opposed to. Sigh...
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4 comments:
I totally agree with you. It was wrong move that Newsong made. There are other more important issues that church needs to fight for such as abortion, and gay marriage. Church should stay out of immigrant policies. As a church, we need to spread the gospel to illegals in our community but church shouldn't encourage illegal immigrants activies. They, in fact, breaking the law.
But this Purple Politcs series really open my eyes on people of Newsong. I couldn't believe how many members are leaning towards the extreme left. It is mind belowing.
YOU won't get into Heaven Illegally LegalAmericanFolks.com
I tend to lean more moderately right (Reagan style) and while there are some disagreements about illegal immigration at least Walter and Brian made it fair as they can. One thing they should shed more light on is streamlining the citizenship process. I don't think green card holders should wait 15+ years to get a naturalization certificate.
It doesn't take 15 years... not even close. It took me less than a year to apply for and receive my naturalization certificate and that's the norm. I know many people that received it in ~8 months. We can ask USCIS the average time it takes to process an application. I'll bet it's less than 15 years.
My problem with Brian and Walter's presentation was that it was totally biased and had all sorts of wrong information. Just because it took a long time for one guy, it doesn't mean the system is broken. Walter knows this yet he still made the stupid comment.
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