Faith in Democracy
Pastors, priests, nuns and rabbis marching in Selma, 1965.
Today, we're a nation at a crossroads. One where a segment of churchgoers hold outsized political power and are 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.
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.
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.
Spiritual Activism Resources
Article Series:
Faith & Democracy - The Role of Religion in Forming a More Perfect Union
F&D #1. Come to Selma: What the Famed March to Montgomery Has to Teach Us About the Intersection of Faith and Democracy.
F&D #2. Pastor Olden: How My Grandfather's Quiet Faith Shaped His Involvement in the Struggle Against Segregation in 1963 Birmingham.
F&D #3. Jimmie and James: How Deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson's murder by Officer James Fowler triggered the Selma march and led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
F&D #4. Mary’s Table: How my grandmother used Sunday dinner to teach her family about the nature of both the Beloved Community and democracy.
F&D #5. Democracy MUST Go: Why structuring society so that it only works for some of us ultimately results in one that works for none of us.
F&D #2. Pastor Olden: How My Grandfather's Quiet Faith Shaped His Involvement in the Struggle Against Segregation in 1963 Birmingham.
F&D #3. Jimmie and James: How Deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson's murder by Officer James Fowler triggered the Selma march and led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
F&D #4. Mary’s Table: How my grandmother used Sunday dinner to teach her family about the nature of both the Beloved Community and democracy.
F&D #5. Democracy MUST Go: Why structuring society so that it only works for some of us ultimately results in one that works for none of us.
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)
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
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
Further Reading
God's Politics with Jim Wallace
Stuff that Needs to be Said, by John Pavlovitz
SHADOW NETWORK: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, Anne Nelson, 2019
BAD FAITH: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, Randall Balmer, 2021
THE POWER WORSHIPPERS: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, Katherine Stewart, 2020
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND – How the Greatest Sociological Shift in United States History is Changing Everything. And What that Change Requires of Us, RD Moore, 2024
Stuff that Needs to be Said, by John Pavlovitz
SHADOW NETWORK: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, Anne Nelson, 2019
BAD FAITH: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, Randall Balmer, 2021
THE POWER WORSHIPPERS: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, Katherine Stewart, 2020
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND – How the Greatest Sociological Shift in United States History is Changing Everything. And What that Change Requires of Us, RD Moore, 2024
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
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