Organized religion in the U.S. is now a divisive force?

The most popular church in our Boston suburb contains bulletin boards filled with messages about sanctuary for illegal immigrants, a trip for parishioners to the “borderland” of Arizona where hands-on aid to migrants will be administered, and some stuff on how to oppose potential initiatives by Donald Trump. A friend who sings in the choir says that every week the sermon is about the merits of diversity and inclusion. (Which is why these folks decided to live in one of the whitest towns in one of the whitest states? The pastor delivering the sermons cannot be accused of hypocrisy. He identifies as a gay man. He and his husband have adopted two black children.)

A friend went to the Boston Women’s March (a protest against the existence of Donald Trump? Or that there were Americans who voted for him?) on a schoolbus chartered by a religious group in a different suburb. I asked if it would be possible for someone to stand up in his group and say “I voted for Trump because he promised to eliminate the estate tax and I want my children to inherit all of the money that I have saved and already paid taxes on.” The answer was a resounding “no.” Such a person would not be motivated to join nor would he or she be welcome. “You have to remember that I’m already an unconventional member,” he said, citing the fact that he lives with a person who identifies as a woman and their two biological children. “A more typical family is a lesbian couple with an adopted black child.”

Maybe it is just Massachusetts, but I’m wondering if organized religion has become force for division and if this is new. In the days when pretty much every American had to go to church, and religion was much more powerful than party affiliation, wouldn’t it then be common for parishioners to have differing political beliefs? The sermon would focus on individual sins and how to avoid them? Today, however, maybe the political beliefs are actually the religion (e.g., government-run health care will make us healthier and more prosperous; government spending will boost the economy; growing the population via immigration is a moral imperative; etc.). So a modern-day church is a venue for people with shared political beliefs to congregate and discuss the sins of those who don’t share their political beliefs. This leaves the workplace (for those who haven’t discovered the miracles of SSDI and/or child support) as the only place in American society where people with differing political views might come together on a regular basis?