Religion in Politics, Revisited (for the Umpteenth Time)

A progressive evangelical movement?

posted by Rebecca Sager

“There is a thirst for two things in this country - a thirst for spirituality and a thirst for social justice”.
– Jim Wallis (2008)

When people hear the words “progressive” and “evangelical” together, a sort of cognitive dissonance occurs. Meshing the notions of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson with ideas of social justice is not something most people easily understand. For the people inside this new movement, however, being an evangelical and progressive is a natural fit.

This spring I went to a fundraiser for Tom Periello, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia. The small crowd was generally young and professional, and after talking to them it was clear that this was not just about raising money, it was about changing the dynamic between religion and politics and creating a new progressive religious movement. In the crowd were movement activists including members and employees of Sojourners, Common Good Strategies (CGS), and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG), all organizations that are part of a new social movement that is aligning Catholics, evangelicals, and other Christians.

Members of this progressive religious movement see their work as fundamentally different from other conservative religious activists. As one founding member told me “How can you be a Christian and not care about issues like poverty and health care?” Like the others I spoke with, he told me the 2004 election was a turning point and call to action, expressing concern for social justice, a hope for something better in 2008, and an affirmation that faith has a new voice in politics.

[Rread the rest of this interesting post, at The Immanent Frame.]