AS THE presidential election approaches, Christians in the United States have been urged to stand up for democracy in an open letter signed by hundreds of Christian leaders.
More than 200 leaders, including the outgoing Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US, the Most Revd Michael Curry, have signed the letter, published last Friday, which warns that democracy is under threat, and argues that defending democracy is a “test of faith”.
They write: “The rise of anti-democratic sentiment and nationalist ideologies imperils our common life and threatens the cultivation of communal and global peace.”
Democracy is not only a political system but a “moral affirmation”, the letter continues.
It acknowledges, though, that the Church’s own relationship with democracy has been damaging. “Christianity has had an ambivalent and at times hostile relationship with democracy, as evidenced in colonial domination and the dispossession of indigenous peoples, the brutal enslavement of Africans, and the denial of women’s rights.”
The Christian faith is now being distorted for political ends by authoritarian leaders, the letter suggests. “In recent years, in the United States and around the world, the Christian faith has been distorted and leveraged in defense of authoritarian leaders who seek to erode freedoms essential to a thriving democracy.
“Some Christians enthusiastically praise dictatorial leaders and regimes. Some have willingly accepted or even participated in political violence. On January 6, 2021, the will of the American people and the peaceful transfer of power came under direct attack during a violent insurrection at the US Capitol. In a profound distortion of the faith, some who rioted on the Capitol steps and stormed into the congressional chamber did so in the name of Jesus Christ.”
The election in November is a “kairos” moment, the letter says, “a moment that can change time, altering events for decades, even generations to come. This electoral season, each one of us must stand for democracy’s future. We must resist cynicism, apathy, and fear; withdrawing from the electoral process only risks consolidating power in the hands of those who would abuse it.”
Among the tasks for Christians is the rejection of any attempt to inhibit voter participation; a repudiation of Christian nationalism; resisting “lies and half-truths” about the outcome of elections; and dismissing the “idea that Christians or Christianity should hold a place of privilege and power in our nation’s governance”.
The letter concludes: “We, the undersigned, commit to advancing a multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-generational democracy, where every voice is valued.”
The signatories “differ on many moral and social issues”, the letter says, but each is “committed to preserving a democratic space”.
The list includes representatives from the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Black Protestant churches. Others include the theologian Jim Wallis, who has said elsewhere that the US is facing unique threats this year, both political and religious. “It’s a national test of who we are as a people, right to the heart of our faith.”
The Bishop of Washington, DC, the Rt Revd Mariann Edgar Budde, was also a signatory of the letter. She told the Religion News Service that the letter was intended to make “a positive statement of Christian engagement in the public realm, in particular a democratic society”.