Biden, Warnock, and the resurgence of the liberal Christian – By Harry Bruinius (CS Monitor) / Feb 17 2021
Who defines what it means to be Christian in America? For the past five years it was white Evangelicals and Christian nationalism. While still a small movement, Democrats have begun to rejuvenate the influence of the Social Gospel.
When Mat Schmalz was coming of age in western Massachusetts decades ago, he took a year to volunteer for a Roman Catholic order in rural Oklahoma, helping to minister to some of the region’s poorer and more isolated communities.
It was the first time he spent a significant amount of time away from the rhythms of his Catholic upbringing, and at first he felt a bit unmoored. But then it almost came as a surprise as he grew particularly close to a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or when he started forming deep friendships with evangelical Protestants, including those from charismatic and Pentecostal traditions.
“I mean, in one sense it was liberating,” says Mr. Schmalz, now a professor of religious studies at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, which he calls “the heart of the Catholic left.”
“Those experiences gave me a sense then, and then throughout my life, that people who I would consider ‘other’ could teach me something spiritually.”
Such openness to other traditions, and even other forms of faith, have long characterized some of the more liberal expressions of American Christianity. Along with an emphasis on the Social Gospel, which highlights the earthly ministries of Jesus and his commitment to the poor and oppressed, these traditions helped ground his Christian faith over the years, Mr. Schmalz says.
