The Religious Left - Why Does the Media Refuse to See Us?

In some of the media coverage of how the religious right performed in the U.S. presidential elections, we’ve been told that the turnout of Christian voters “has remained remarkably stable” and that Evangelicals stood by their man, Trump. What is largely missing from this reporting during election cycles, and overall, are me, my community, my people— progressive Christians, a tribe that is as numerous as the dust of the earth.

But let us first take a step back. When we discuss religion and politics in the United States, the plain reality is that the focus is on Catholics and Evangelicals, as if Christianity is the only faith of diverse Americans. The hyper focus is on the Christian right, specifically the white right.

America, including the news media, needs to be re-introduced to progressive Christians. We exist. While we are the woman, man, or gender non-conforming child of God made invisible in U.S. politics, I would argue that progressive Christianity —that is, its core beliefs— has delivered more votes in general elections than conservative Catholics and Evangelicals combined.

Who are progressive Christians? What do we stand for? We are the people who believe that children should not be held in cages. We believe that Black Lives Matter. We are pro-civil rights and pro-voting rights. We believe that affordable, accessible, and quality health care is a human right, not a privilege. We believe in a free press.

We believe women should lead. It is for this reason that the United Church of Christ (UCC), the mainline Protestant Christian denomination that I belong to, ordained as far back as 1853 Antoinette Brown Blackwell as the first woman minister of word and sacrament. For us, climate change is real, to the point that in the 1980’s, it was UCC ministers who coined the phrase “environmental racism” and played a leading role in birthing the environmental justice movement. The UCC believes that we are all God’s children, therefore we support and fight for LGBTQ rights and ordained the first openly gay minister, William R. Johnson, in 1972. Love is love!

When journalists fail to cover the Christian “left” —what I refer to as simply real Christians— they are also failing in their duty to be fair and accurate. Religious right leaders may be zealous and well financed, but there are masses, including us moderate Protestants, who mobilize and vote with “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

“When journalists fail to cover the Christian 'left'...they are also failing in their duty to be fair and accurate”

When news outlets make our movement and efforts absent, or revolve coverage around what predominantly white Catholics and Evangelicals accept or reject, they project Christians as a conservative monolith. This is far from the case, as we just saw with the evangelical left successfully rallying for a different president, and with more religious Americans accepting our LGBTQ sisters and brothers, as the Pew Research Center has reported.

Christianity is not a dogma, it is an act. Our beliefs propel us to march, organize and preach. I serve as senior minister of Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City and the weeks preceding the election, we spent our nights making non-partisan calls to register people to vote. Before this, we helped folks with filling out their census forms. On Sundays, when we walk up to our pulpits, we seek to inspire those who are listening to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with their God.” (Micah 6:8)

The work of progressive, diverse Christian churches across the nation hits bumps, but it is ultimately transformational. So, when I see people construct a religious landscape that excludes us, that does not see us, the ignorance and disconnect pain me.

More people believe in a God of love and inclusion, not of exclusion and prejudice. I am among them and I am here to reclaim Christianity from the likes of televangelist Paula White. I challenge the media to do better as a standard, not an exception, in reporting the full story.

To the religious individuals supporting politicians who believe that children should be kept in cages, that Black Lives do not matter and who try to deny the LGBTQ community their right to love —sit down. I call you to repentance. The God that created us, redeems us and sustains us does not stand for hate.

The real Christians must stand up and loudly claim our space.