"Part of the reason why Democrats don’t talk much about faith is that they struggle to know how to express it without sounding like they are proselytizing or imposing their religion upon a pluralistic society [...] They have concerns around expressing their own faith alongside their strong commitment to the separation of church and state. And while all of that is all understandable, the reluctance to speak about faith has ceded religion to the Republicans."
While I lean toward the left in my values, I don't pledge allegiance to either party, so my focus isn't exactly the same as Wallis's. But he makes a vital point about the importance of providing a visible alternative to Christian Nationalism.
I'm so tired of the primary Christian message these days being the push to bundle Christianity and America into a single package that everyone has to accept or reject together. I don't need to explain why that's a terrible, hurtful, dangerous movement.
What I do need to do is provide another option to that message: a vision of Christianity that emphasizes love the way that Jesus did. That's something I've been thinking a lot about lately and I'm eager to figure out how to do that better. I'm mostly over my shyness in talking about God, but I wouldn't call myself brave yet. I want to be that.
(In searching for an image to use for this post, I discovered the logo above and the organization it represents. I want to learn more about these folks and the resources they offer.)
