Faith & Democracy

Faith in Democracy
Conscience of the State

Selma, Alabama, 1965.

Today, we're a nation at a crossroads. One where a religious faction holds outsized political power and is determined to use that power to enforce their view of the world on society.

Everything from the weakening of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act to the nearly 400 voter restriction measures in 48 states that have been proposed or passed since 2020, ones that make it harder for certain Americans to vote shows how democracy itself is under assault.

"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
Martin Luther King, Selma March, 1965.

Selma, Alabama, 1965.

But just like the Selma march that made the passage of that same Voting Rights Act possible, believers in theocracy aren't going unanswered. Today, there's a rapidly growing, increasingly vocal movement among people of faith who are not only committed to defending democracy, but they understand that our nation's survival hinges on doing so. This interfaith, multi-generational coalition of clergy, congregations and faith groups rightly see the right to vote as both sacred and the cornerstone of democracy.

Together, they're building on the same faith infrastructure that gave power and sustenance to the Civil Rights movement; uniting anyone and everyone who claims to be for humanity into a single “Beloved Community”. Essentially what Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Bayard Rustin and so many other activists of that era did.

Across the nation, people of faith are learning a different lesson -- that it's up to them to ensure that no subset of society sets the rules that govern all of us and that each of us has a voice and a vote.

More than ever, we need people of faith and conscience to do what they've done at so many other junctures in our shared history from opposing slavery to marching arm in arm from Selma to Montgomery.

Today, that means defending democracy in all manner of ways, from abolishing the Electoral College to ending felony disenfranchisement, from enacting Supreme Court term limits to passing voting rights legislation to running for office. It's actions like these that not only secure for us a future but enable us to truly become a government of, by and for the people for the first time.

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool."
Martin Luther King, A Knock at Midnight

Spiritual Activism Resources

Left: Suffragists in the state of Georgia, taken in 1919, a year before the Nineteenth Amendment, which extended the right to vote to women, was ratified.

Right: KKK is welcomed to a Baptist Church service in Portland, Oregon, 1922.

Hover to read captions. Click to enlarge.

Films

Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy, 2024 (watch for free on TUBI)
God & Country, 2024 (watch for free on Amazon Prime/Freevee)
American Heretics, 2019 (watch for free on Amazon Prime/Freevee)

Engagement Opportunities

Christian Faith and Democracy Pledge
Faiths United to Save Democracy
Faithful Democracy
Faith in Elections playbook
Center for American Progress (CAP) Project 2025: Exposing the Far-Right Assault on America

Letters from a Birmingham Boy:
2024 Election Reflections (12-article series)
2025 MLK Day Open Letter and Videos
2025 - How We Fight (Open Series)

Voting Made Easy -- Tools and Resources

How Do I Verify That I Am Registered to Vote and Find My Voting Precinct? www.Headcount.org | https://www.vote.org/
How Do I Register To Vote Online? https://www.usa.gov/voting | www.turbovote.org
Who Do I Call If My Right To Vote Is Challenged, or I Suspect Misconduct at My Polling Place?
1-866-OUR-VOTE (Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights) 1-866-687-8683
How Do I Obtain Information On Absentee Ballots and Early Voting? https://www.usa.gov/voting | www.voterparticipation.org
How Do I Vote As a Student Away From Home? www.brennancenter.org
How Do I Restore My Voting Rights If I Have a Criminal Record? www.restoreyourvote.org
How Do I Vote As A Member Of The Military? www.fvap.gov
What is Turbo Voting, Online Voting, and Same Day Voting? www.headcount.org
What is a Motor Voting or Automatic Voting state? www.voterparticipation.org
How Do I Vote As a Disabled Person? https://www.nonprofitvote.org/
How Do I Vote If I moved? www.headcount.org
Remedies If your name is purged https://ballotpedia.org › Voter_caging_and_purging

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Faith in DemocracyConscience of the State

"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”Martin Luther King, Selma March, 1965.

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool."Martin Luther King, A Knock at Midnight