The Rise of the Religious Left
The midterm election postmortem is now officially underway as political pundits in particular dissect Tuesday’s results as well as who likely voted for whom or what ballot measures – and who didn’t vote at all.
Just over 124 million people cast a ballot this election cycle, which means slightly over 127 million people, or roughly half of those registered, sat out the election entirely.
Democrat candidates received 12.5 million more votes than their Republican counterparts, though there’s no way of knowing how many Republican voters supported Democrats or vice versa.
Beyond recapturing control of both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Democrats also elected seven candidates whose identities were closely tied to their expressed Christian faith.
In Kansas, Senator-elect Adam Hamilton, who defeated incumbent Senator Roger Marshall, is founding pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. Established in 1990 with ties to the United Methodists, the multi-site church boasts 24,000 members.
As a pastor, Senator-elect Hamilton takes an expansive view of the Bible and views it much like many liberal-minded people view the United States Constitution, namely as a “living and breathing” document.
Orthodox Christian theology holds that while the Bible is composed of 66 books recorded by fallible people, it is nevertheless the timeless, inerrant and inspired Word of God.
It’s been reported that the Church of the Resurrection has previously sponsored “Kansas City PrideFest” and that over 800 church members left the congregation years ago after Hamilton reversed his previous position and preached homosexual behavior was no longer sinful.
In Texas, voters tapped Senator-elect James Talarico by a wide margin. He received a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Throughout the campaign, Talarico often cited the Bible to make his case for several policy positions ranging from opposition to immigration enforcement to the sanctity of life and protecting girls’ sports.
Critics of Senator-elect Talarico highlighted some of the more unorthodox and curious things he’s said about faith, including his claim that “God is nonbinary,” “There are six biological sexes,” and “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” He was also quick to name his favorite drag queen and said he loved “the trans children.”
At Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston earlier this fall, Talarico told those gathered, “I want to speak to you this morning, not as a candidate, but as a fellow Christian. My grandad was a Baptist preacher in south Texas. And when I was real little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion.” He then added, “Sometimes we see the world most clearly through our tears. If your heart is breaking as you watch what’s happening to our beloved country, it means you still have a heart. So blessed are you who weep.”
Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, has urged caution about the use, misuse, and interpretation of theological language, especially when candidates are wooing voters.
“I think of the warnings even in the New Testament about how easy it is to mislead people with language that sounds almost theologically right,” Mohler said. “That is one of the great dangers of our time, and that’s why we have to keep coming back to the most basic truths revealed in Scripture, including the sanctity and dignity of every single human life – every single human being made in the image of God and right order in creation, extending to marriage and family. And you can see the confrontation with the leftist ideology already.”
In Iowa, Governor-elect Rob Sand, who attends the progressive Plymouth Congregational Church, often invoked his faith on the campaign trail. Liberal Lutheran minister Sarah Trone Garriott, who describes herself as a “minister, mother and leader,” defeated incumbent GOP House member Zach Nunn.
Pastor Frederick Haynes in Texas won an open seat in the U.S. House previously held by Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Pastor Lindsay James of Iowa was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Then there was LaKesha Womack, an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church minister, who beat Republican incumbent Tim Moore in the 14th U.S. Congressional District in North Carolina.
You might remember that Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia), who was first elected in 2021, is still senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
The only Democrat pastor to lose on Tuesday was Robb Ryerse, a progressive Arkansas clergyman, who was defeated by incumbent Rep. Steve Womack.
There is a long history of evangelical Christian pastors serving in Congress, and two of the most recent ones were reelected on Tuesday: Rep. Mark Harris (R-North Carolina)was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte for more than ten years. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) pastored in both Indiana and his current home state.
Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) is an ordained Southern Baptist minister who served in Christian ministry for more than 20 years.
It is one thing to speak of your Christian faith and a whole other matter to make sure that your words and actions comport with God’s commands. From protecting the sanctity of preborn life to upholding biblical marriage between one man and one woman and recognizing the reality of two biological sexes – the coming years will reveal which members of Congress are faithful to Christian convictions not only in their rhetoric but also in how they govern, the policies they advance and the principles they are willing to defend.
