USA Today has published a thought-provoking opinion piece by Stephen Prothero, Christianity is on the ballot in the Georgia Senate runoff between Warnock and Loeffler. Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University, and author of several books on religion on America. He contrasts the ideas of Christianity between Warnock and Loeffler:
[Warnock] preaches a social gospel Christianity that emphasizes not only personal spiritual transformation but also the sort of concern for the poor and the disinherited that is palpable in the Old Testament prophets and the slave spirituals. Christianity’s purpose is not just to save individual souls, he argues, it is to work to improve the lives of the poor and the oppressed here and now.
Is this Christianity?
Loeffler and her supporters say no. [...] They say that his social gospel is socialism. They say that this man of God is a “radical” and an “extremist.”
I’m not a religious person myself, but I think it’s relevant to think about political questions in broader terms. Seeing this expressed as competing theological worldviews is an interesting perspective. Prothero further points out the relatively recent history of the alignment between conservative Republicanism and the Christian Right, and its negative effect on American churches today:
When I was in high school, the most prominent Christian in the United States, President Jimmy Carter, shared this social gospel vision, preaching it from his Sunday School classroom in rural Georgia all the way to the Oval Office. Then came Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority and the strategic fusion of conservative Republicanism with the Christian Right in the late 1970s and early 1980s. [...]
We now know that young Christians are leaving the churches in droves and that the fastest growing religious demographic in the country is “none of the above.” One reason for this sudden shift is that Americans, and especially young Americans, increasingly associate Christianity with bigotry and therefore don’t want to have anything to do with it.
I think that’s quite convincing. If you link your religion to one side of highly contentious social debates, you’re going to lose a lot of people with whom you could agree on borader theological questions. On the other hand, embracing concrete work to help people in need right in the here and now is something nearly all people can get behind. So this might not just be the right thing to do, but also the better model for a relevant Christian church in the future. Prothero concludes:
[T] he future of American Christianity is on the ballot as well. Is President Donald Trump a model Christian because he has appointed anti-abortion judges? Or is he a horrible Christian because he almost never goes to church and is a habitual violator of the Ten Commandments? Is President-elect Joe Biden a model Christian because he attends Catholic Mass regularly and cares about “the least of these”? Or is he a horrible Christian because he does not want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
As Georgians go to the polls, they will answer these questions, plus one more: Are Americans broad-minded enough to recognize the Reverend King and the Reverend Warnock as Christians? This is a strange question to ask. But these are strange times. I hope Georgia voters opt to say “Amen.”
I strongly endorse reading the full piece.
I think that Raphael Warnock’s model of Christianity is better than Kelly Loeffler’s. But I am absolutely certain that Raphael Warnock will be a better US Senator than Kelly Loeffler. If you can, please chip in a few bucks for Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock and some of their key allies in Georgia via ActBlue!
Do you want to know more about helping Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win their runoff elections? Check out the diary Ho ho how we are going to win the GA runoffs over Christmas — a (nearly) complete guide.