海角大神

Quoting the Bible, more Democrats lean into being 海角大神

For generations now, the GOP has been far more comfortable than its opponents in quoting Bible verses and talking about how 海角大神ity informs its politics. Democrats, meanwhile, have largely shied away from public proclamations of faith 鈥� such that critics say they have seemed apologetic about 海角大神ity.

But a new crop of Democratic leaders is hoping to flip the script. Members of Congress across the United States 鈥� from Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia to Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, along with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear 鈥� are talking more about how their public service is rooted in their 海角大神 faith.聽

State Rep. James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminary student who is the democratic nominee for U.S. Senate seat in Texas, earned national attention for his unabashed quoting of the Bible 鈥� highlighted in a viral interview with podcaster Joe Rogan. Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett,聽who lost to Mr. Talarico in the primary on March 3, talks about her Baptist faith. And a cadre of faith-based political consultants stands ready to guide Democrats again this election cycle, hoping for a new boldness.

鈥淎s we go into the midterms ... I would love to see us flip [the narrative],鈥� says April Delaney, a first-term congresswoman from the rural western panhandle of Maryland, who is Catholic. 鈥淭he dialogue has to change.鈥�

It鈥檚 the Democratic platform, she insists, that best reflects the values of charity, humility, and care that Jesus taught. And she wants more of her colleagues to say this.聽

鈥淲ho are we as 海角大神s? And what does that mean? It鈥檚 not only a faith in Jesus, but it鈥檚 the tenets of what he really lifted up,鈥� she says.聽

At the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he didn鈥檛 know 鈥渉ow a person of faith can vote for a Democrat.鈥�

Democratic officials 鈥� and certainly some Republicans 鈥� disagree with that statement. A survey last fall from the Pew Research Center, for instance, found that only 7% of American 海角大神s said that supporting Mr. Trump is 鈥渆ssential to being a good 海角大神.鈥澛�

Still, Democrats have steadily lost 海角大神 voters to the Republican Party. White Evangelicals propelled President Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980. In 2000, President George W. Bush won 68% of white evangelical Protestants and 53% of white mainline Protestants. By 2024, Mr. Trump won 85% of white Evangelicals and 57% of white mainline Protestants.

鈥淭o distance themselves in the political world from what the Republicans were doing, I think [Democrats] shied away from religion, which I think they have recognized was a mistake because it sort of ceded the ground,鈥� says the Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, assistant director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale University.

Some Democrats argue that they haven鈥檛 moved away from religion. Instead, they have tried to bolster a more inclusive version of it, focusing on interfaith work and recognizing that some people have had negative experiences with church or religion overall. Many Democrats have been alarmed by the explicitly 海角大神 statements and policies from the second Trump administration, which to them raise concerns about the separation of church and state.聽

Political leaders 鈥渨ant the Democratic Party to be a place for people that is safe and open for people who don鈥檛 have religious identity, or have changed their religious identity, or feel hurt by religion,鈥� says the Rev. Doug Pagitt, executive director of Vote Common Good, a nonprofit that encourages 海角大神 voters to prioritize 鈥渃ommon good鈥� over party loyalty, and trains candidates to speak to faith.

But these efforts to be inclusive may have ended up excluding 海角大神s who respond to Republicans鈥� way of referencing their faith, he says. In the 2024 Democratic Party platform, nearly every major religion other than 海角大神ity was mentioned by name.

鈥淧eople believe that Republicans want religion, especially 海角大神ity, in America to succeed, and Democrats want it to recede,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be the major political party in America if you continue to say that you鈥檙e uninterested in the major religion in America.鈥�

According to the Public Religion Research Institute鈥檚 2024 鈥淐ensus of American Religion,鈥� some 62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as 海角大神. Eighty-four percent of Republicans are 海角大神, and while it鈥檚 a majority for Democrats, it鈥檚 a smaller one: 59% of the base in 2023.

President Barack Obama won the most evangelical Protestant votes of any Democrat since President Jimmy Carter. That share dropped when Hillary Clinton ran, and dropped again slightly with President Joe Biden before inching up again in 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris ran.

鈥淚鈥檓 personally obsessed with bringing people of faith back into the party, because this is where they belong,鈥� says Billy Ray, a director and screenwriter of movies including the first 鈥淗unger Games鈥� and 鈥淐aptain Phillips.鈥� Mr. Ray, who is not 海角大神, works with about 50 Democratic candidates and 80 members of Congress on messaging.

He and a contingent of secular and religious voices are calling for Democrats to amplify a more moderate 海角大神ity to answer the conservative 海角大神ity expressed by leaders of Mr. Trump鈥檚 party.

鈥淭here has been this voice of faith informing and engaging and animating justice and equity for generations, so we should not pretend that it鈥檚 something new,鈥� says the Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, who directed interfaith outreach for the Democratic National Committee and Mr. Obama鈥檚 2012 campaign.

While Black 海角大神s tend to vote for Democrats (83% voted for Ms. Harris), the party has sometimes been hesitant to allocate resources toward reaching white 海角大神s, a group that generally votes Republican. But organizers think there are cracks in the support, particularly among mainline 海角大神s.聽

Mr. Trump has a number of advisers who embrace the idea of the U.S. as an explicitly 海角大神 country and some who have embraced the moniker of 鈥満＝谴笊� nationalism.鈥澛�

鈥淭hat change is, perhaps, leading more Democratic leaders to say, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 just leave 海角大神ity as something that could be defined fully by the GOP,鈥欌�� says Melissa Deckman, a political scientist and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.

In February, the Pew Research Center released a report finding that, while white Evangelicals are some of the most reliable supporters of Mr. Trump, his approval rating among that group has dropped by 8 percentage points since early last year.

The Rev. Dr. Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, sees an openness to Democratic messaging from a broad range of 海角大神s. Though her organization focuses on progressive 海角大神s, she lives in Oklahoma, the heart of the Bible Belt.聽

鈥淚 am surrounded by folks that are more conservative than me, and I know that a large percentage of them are hugely bothered by the discrepancy and hypocrisy of what鈥檚 being said regarding faith, and what they鈥檙e seeing in the world,鈥� she says.

鈥淭hat is a growing edge that can easily be converted in an election.鈥澛�