Progressive Clergy Enter Politics

0:00From Durham, this is your March 20 update. More Democrats, with deep faith roots, are stepping up to run for office, challenging the notion that Christianity is owned by the right wing. Progressive clergy and seminarians are leading the charge this mid-term season, including a 36-year-old Texas State representative and Presbyterian seminarian James Tolerico, who just won his primary for U.S. Senate. In Iowa, three ordained ministers are vying for congressional seats as Democrats. There's Lutheran pastor and State Senators Sarah Trone-Gariot, along with Methodist minister Clint Twett-Ball and Presbyterian Chaplain Lindsay. James, all emphasizing interfaith work and social justice in their campaigns. Conservative leaders push back hard, arguing Republicans state truer to biblical principles, while some pastors blame themselves for not better. Explaining faith to voters, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a church-deacon, eyeing a presidential run, says his new book will highlight how faith drives him to heal divisions.

1:05This trend builds on a long history of black clergy, like Senator Raphael Warnock entering politics, but why progressive pastors are rarer until now? The 2016 election sparked many to act, seen faith as a tool for liberation rather than control. As progressive voices grow louder, their reimagining religions roll in public life, fostering hope that faith can inspire real change across.