In a recent address to church leaders, religion columnist Michael J. McManus stated that the churches have contributed to a disintegration of the American family. So reports The Fresno Bee, a California newspaper. McManus noted that there were 1.2 million divorces and 750,000 illegitimate births in the United States during 1985 and that 2.2 million unmarried couples were living together.

McManus indicated that, instead of staunchly upholding Biblical standards on morality, which urge fidelity in marriage, the church has taken a more passive role on such issues in an effort to bolster attendance. As an example, he cited a recent proposal “that the Episcopal Church drop its opposition to couples who live together without being married.”

Responding to proposed leniency by the church on such moral issues, McManus said: “The Episcopal Church has gotten to the point where it says its highest virtue is tolerance. Nowhere does Jesus say to tolerate sin. He condemned sin.”