Nonreligious Americans more compassionate than Christians. Where did Jesus go? | Opinion

Many churches are anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-science, anti-women, judgmental, narrow-minded, overtly political and mean-spirited. Where did Jesus go?

I recently reviewed a collection of surveys that compared the values of church-going Christians with people who have no religious affiliation. The contrast in values between the two groups proved disconcerting.

One of the surveys dealt with climate change. The vast majority of religiously unaffiliated persons believe climate change is an existential threat to humanity and support efforts to mitigate it. However, many church attenders, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence, deny the ominous threat of climate change and resist efforts to deal with it.

Another of the surveys measured attitudes about immigrants. Most unaffiliated religious people want compassionate treatment of immigrants, even if they support strong border security. They don’t want hard-working immigrants without criminal records to be deported, especially without due process.

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But large numbers of church-going Americans support harsh (and even cruel) immigration policies, in spite of the clear command of scripture to welcome immigrants and treat them with compassion.

One of the surveys measured support for laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. By a wide margin, religiously unaffiliated persons affirmed laws that support LGBTQ rights, but only a small number of frequent church goers affirmed gay protection laws.

Similar dynamics could be found in the other surveys. Take the subject of health care. Though most religiously unaffiliated persons support efforts to provide health coverage to as many Americans as possible, that’s not the case with large numbers of frequent church goers. Many of them support recent cuts to Medicaid and other health-care benefits for low-income Americans.

Jesus’ followers don’t reflect Jesus’ teachings

On and on it went. People with no religious affiliation support compassionate public policies at far higher levels than people who claim to be followers of Jesus.

I found myself startled by these surveys. Issues that Jesus would likely support — like efforts to reduce climate change (after all, “God created the heavens and the earth” and has a vested interest in protecting the planet), or being compassionate to immigrants (Jesus once said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”), offering legal protections for the LGBTQ community (Jesus hung out with and advocated for marginalized people), or providing health care (Jesus was a healer) — are supported by the vast majority of nonreligious people.

Yet these crucial issues, along with many other Jesus-friendly policies, are resisted by many (although certainly not all) Christians who attend church on a regular basis.

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I have loved and served the church of Jesus Christ for most of my life. But I’m deeply troubled that the kind, loving, compassionate and grace-filled spirit of Jesus seems to be disappearing from large numbers of American churches.

Instead, many of these churches are anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-science, anti-women, judgmental, narrow-minded, overtly political and mean-spirited. As I look at many churches in America in the twenty-first century, I can’t help but wonder:

Where did Jesus go?

Martin Thielen, a retired United Methodist minister, former megachurch pastor and bestselling author, is the founder and author of www.DoubtersParish.com.