Christian leaders may wonder how they can be true to their faith convictions in a polarized political atmosphere. New resources, along with essays and interviews from the Faith & Leadership archives, can help.
The 2020 election
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Anthea Butler: In a season of reckonings, forgiveness is not forgetting
As the toll of twin pandemics continues to mount and a divisive election looms, true absolution requires more than just words, writes an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Action figures in a store window include one of John Wayne, on the right. iStock / Brendan Hunter
Kristin Kobes Du Mez: Toxic masculinity in evangelical culture is crucial to Trump's success
The gender ideals of evangelicalism have led evangelical Christians to embrace rugged, often immoral and violent men, a scholar of Christian history says.
Book cover detail from “After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity”
David P. Gushee: The problem with white evangelicalism is not Jesus
Millions of people are leaving the evangelical movement. Helping those ex-evangelicals rediscover Jesus and a viable practice of the Christian faith is the goal of Gushee’s new book, “After Evangelicalism.”
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John Fea: Evangelicals may vote the same in 2020 as in 2016, but we understand them much better now
Many are confused by evangelical support for President Donald Trump. An American historian wrestles with the reasons for this phenomenon, explained through three recent books.
Photo courtesy of Errin Haines
Errin Haines: Called to be a voice of clarity
The editor-at-large of The 19th*, a newly launched national magazine about gender, politics and policy, speaks about her faith and her call to be a journalist.
A Muslim boy learns how to make dua, which is a prayer of supplication. iStock / Rawpixel
Melissa Rogers: Protecting the freedom to practice all faiths without fear
As our nation continues to reckon with racism, it's time to face other injustices, too, including hostility and attacks on religious minorities, writes a visiting professor at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity.
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Prince Rivers: Getting Souls to the Polls this election season
Like everything else, this election season is being complicated by the pandemic. But the traditional role Black churches have played in encouraging voter turnout can continue, building on some of what has been learned in the last six months, says a pastor.
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Patrick B. Reyes: Exorcism at the polls
This nation’s treatment of people of color throughout history is one motivation for them to vote in 2020, writes a director at the Forum for Theological Exploration.
Members of the Washington Interfaith Staff Community take part in a health care vigil. Photo courtesy of the Friends Committee on National Legislation
Interfaith advocacy groups collaborate to help the nation's vulnerable
Partisan divides may mark politics in Washington, D.C., but faith-based lobbyists there find ways to work together for the greater good.
Staff illustration / Photo by Debby Hudson / Unsplash
Leah Schade: How pastors can bridge political divides in 2020
The minister and professor of preaching offers a method of dialogue in advance of the coming election.
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Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: Voting for our own souls
Christians must remain engaged for the sake of the country and the integrity of their own faith, writes an author and activist.
The steel wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, includes phrases and names of deported veterans. The center phrase translated from Spanish says: "Here is where the dreams bounced back." iStock / Photo Beto
Mark T. Mulder and Gerardo Marti: Why don't all Latinx Americans vote 'blue'?
Latinx Protestants defy expectations on issues like immigration, write two sociologists.
Book cover detail from "Revolution of Values."
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: Reclaiming public faith from the religious right
The author and activist tells how the religious right monopolized public faith and family values, and how Christians can change the conversation.
Politics and religious faith
Composite Illustration by Jessamyn Rubio / BigStock: Rashomon, Karpenko Ilia
Laura Stern: Must we keep the church out of politics and politics out of the church?
Despite all our attempts to keep religion and politics apart, they do come together in the church, writes a pastor.
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Michael Wear: Christians should be involved in party politics
Whether Democrats or Republicans, Christians in the U.S. can be active participants in party politics and still be true to their faith, says a consultant on religion and politics and former staffer in the Obama administration’s faith-based initiative.
Luke Bretherton: Politics is key to loving your neighbor
Politics is not a necessary evil; it’s an important way to care for a community, says a professor and theologian.
Leading in the public square
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II speaking at a Moral Monday rally. Creative Commons: Flickr / Twbuckner
William J. Barber II: We have to dare to preach the gospel
In this interview, the leader of the Moral Mondays movement talks about leading in the public square.
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Eric D. Barreto: Reading the Bible in public
How do we rightly read the Bible in the midst of the political issues of our time? A New Testament scholar calls for a renewed theological imagination, filled with generosity, hope and grace.
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Ben Irwin: Reject political idolatry this election season
A group of pastors is asking churches to celebrate communion on Election Day to send the message that the church is a radical alternative to the power structures of our world.
Conflict and polarization
On primary day, the author was confronted with a "Vote here" sign in the shadow of a cross draped in purple for Lent. Photo courtesy of Ed Moore
Edgar Moore: Election Day, in the shadow of the cross
Despite our desire to find a comfortable middle ground, the incarnation means there may not be a clear, easy way through the midst of cultural conflict, writes a retired United Methodist elder.
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John Inazu: Confident pluralism -- surviving and thriving through deep difference
Despite deep and irresolvable differences, Americans must find a way to live together, a Washington University law professor says in this interview. He calls for a ‘confident pluralism,’ bolstered in part by tolerance, humility and patience.
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Stephen R. Haynes: The battle for Bonhoeffer
In an era of intense polarization, as liberals and conservatives argue over the meaning of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and work, a Bonhoeffer scholar considers what it means to be a disciple in the age of Trump.
The 2016 presidential election
William H. Lamar IV preaching. Photo courtesy of Paul Holston, Tru1 Photography
William H. Lamar IV: Black preaching, after the election
What is the role of black preaching in the new America of President-elect Trump? This Advent, a young AME pastor finds inspiration and insight in the theology of his denomination’s founder, Richard Allen.
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Cameron Barr: The pastoral vocation in the age of President Trump
Donald Trump may be a different kind of leader, perhaps even a threat to our democracy, but that doesn’t change the nature of the pastoral vocation, says an Iowa pastor. The pastor is the keeper of a space where we stand on a firm foundation.
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Ginger Gaines-Cirelli: Sacred resistance is about our being, not just our doing
In her new book, “Sacred Resistance,” the senior pastor of Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C., articulates how Christians can engage in the work of mending the world.
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Robert Wilson-Black: Resistance and healing, after the election
In the wake of the presidential election, it's time for listening and learning, says the CEO of Sojourners in this interview.