Other Opinions

The Bible is clear that we are to pray for our leaders no matter what our political preference may be. Paul’s First Letter to Timothy makes clear that we are called to pray for our leaders. Preaching for Carter taught me a few things about how I want to pray for any president.

In government circles, truth-tellers are known as “whistleblowers, but it’s fitting that they are also otherwise known as “prophets at work.” The challenges whistleblowers face are complex. Faith communities have a role in supporting these truth-tellers.

Jonathan Merritt argues that President Joe Biden’s agenda for his first 100 days matches up nicely with organizations such as World Relief, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and the National Association of Evangelicals.

The American Catholic bishops are split over how to deal with Joe Biden, the first Catholic president since John F. Kennedy, but it’s not just one split. A small but vocal minority wants to punish the new president for his support of legalized abortion, gay rights, and birth control.

Decades after his death, White evangelicals finally came to recognize King’s contribution to American democracy and biblical justice. But during his lifetime, a large segment of the American church derided King and other activists and even resisted the aims of the civil rights movement.

Our ability to champion religious freedom abroad starts at home. But over the past four years, our federal government’s violations of its own citizens’ religious freedom rights threatens our commitment to making a difference around the world.

For months, farmers in India have been protesting new agriculture reform laws instituted in September 2020, which leave them to the mercy — or lack thereof — of corporate giants. The protesters’ cause and community have shown a way for people of all faiths to go forward in a post-pandemic world.

It may seem odd to connect the spectacle at the Capitol with the seminary presidents’ fumbling, but the two moves are aligned in the same work: preserving America’s White Supremacist common sense by limiting what certain social institutions are allowed to teach.

As evangelicals, we must recognize, confess, and lament our role in allowing Christian Nationalism to fuel actions like the insurrection at the Capitol. It’s more important than ever to recognize the dangers associated with mistaking our fear for faith — and our faith for politics.

Evangelicals must stand up and call out our political leaders’ sins for the good of our leadership. As Christ-followers, we have been called to something higher. This higher mission cannot be contained by any political group or expressed by two checked boxes.