(Opinion) Although religious language has largely disappeared from both parties’ platforms since 2004, appeals to faith from presidential hopefuls are ubiquitous in American politics.
“It would be very difficult to be the president without believing,” President George W. Bush remarked in 2004.
In this regard, vice presidential candidates are no different. Both Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) credit faith as a significant influence in their personal and political outlooks. This is certainly nothing new for those pursuing the office, but both Walz and Vance represent novel models of Christian politics that will likely continue gaining traction.
Walz, originally from Butte, Nebraska, grew up Roman Catholic, like many other descendants of German immigrants in the prairie. Walz has credited his Catholic roots for informing his passion for social justice and reminisced to The Independent about his parents’ infatuation with John F. Kennedy. Walz converted to Lutheranism, the largest faith community in Minnesota when he married his wife, Gwen.
Since he has been a figure in Minnesota politics, Walz has described himself as a member of Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) parish. At Pilgrim Lutheran, whose website has mostly been made private since Walz’s rise to national prominence, the Lord’s Prayer begins with “our guardian, our mother,” Christ’s exclusive divinity is denied, and participation in riots is encouraged.
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This sort of extreme theological liberalism is not unexpected in the ELCA and matches Walz’s progressive record. Still, Walz’s evocation of being a “Lutheran dad” or a “good Minnesota Lutheran” is a nod to the folksy mainline image currently prevalent in the Democratic party.
Much like Obama’s evangelical left or Biden’s liberal Catholicism, the current tenor of the campaign seeks to speak directly to rural white mainline voters, who Democrats hope can stymie former President Donald Trump’s historically strong performance with the white working class. If the Harris-Walz ticket succeeds, Walz will be the second Lutheran to occupy the White House, the first being another Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey.
Vance, who gained national prominence after the success of his book, Hillbilly Elegy, elevated him to something of an Appalachian working-class whisperer. As recounted in his memoir, Vance was raised an evangelical but did not consider himself a participant in any religious community for much of his adult life.
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, citing the writings of St. Augustine, Rene Girard, and the friendship of several Catholic intellectuals as primary factors in his conversion. His admiration for Augustine’s intellect and political philosophy was so great that he chose Augustine as his confirmation name.
In an interview with Rod Dreher, Vance credited the Catholic faith with his conservative politics and skepticism of the free market.
Since his conversion, Vance has grown close to the Catholic illiberalism that has become chic on the American right. Vance has appeared at conferences alongside Adrien Vermuele, the mind behind much of American integralism, and counts postliberal Patrick Deneen as a personal friend.
Although Vance’s connections to fringe political philosophy may seem irrelevant, Vance’s model of illiberal intellectual Catholicism is novel on the mainstream right. The broad, fusionist, ecumenical Christian conservatism of Reagan and Bush has now been rivaled by a starkly different picture of what an America led by Christians ought to look like, one less concerned with school prayer and more concerned with Thomas Aquinas.
The Constitution does not grant broad powers to the vice president, and the vice president is far from one of the most important individuals in American life. Nevertheless, the person and personality of the vice president are a signal to the public of the campaign’s values.
For instance, Trump’s selection of Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) in 2016 was a nod to traditional Christian conservatives, who Trump at the time made uneasy. Then-Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IL) selection of Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) in 2008 was intended to be a stabilizing message, paired with the ambitious “hope and change” of his running mate.
Walz and Vance are no different. Walz’s down-home liberal faith is a message to the rural working class that the Democratic Party has not forgotten them. Vance is a signal to the various strands of illiberal thought on the margins of the GOP that it is time to come off of the message boards and into the halls of power.
Regardless of the election outcome, the ascendance of homespun mainline Protestantism and bookish Catholicism as identifiable brands of Christian politics is likely to continue.
This commentary, which originally appeared at Juicy Ecumenism and has been reprinted with permission, does not necessarily reflect the views of The Roys Report.
Wyatt Flicker is a blog contributor for the Institute on Religion & Democracy.
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“ Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece
and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and
became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19
years old–barely out of diapers–and I wanted them to understand
and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding,
“An enterprise. That’s a business.” After a few moments Martha,
the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not
imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was
self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless,
I acknowledged Martha’s raised hand, “Yes, Martha.” She asked
such a simple question, “A business? But isn’t it supposed to be
a body?” I could not envision where this line of questioning was going,
and the only response I could think of was, “Yes.” She continued,
“But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?””
https://prayerandprophecy.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/the-question-that-changed-my-life/
First time I’ve ever agreed with anything you’ve written Kenly.
This is a cynical take that isn’t completely untrue. Thankfully there is a parallel account of the faithful.
And in modern American Christianity, that enterprise (business) became a franchised Multi-Level Marketing scheme that is coincidentally shaped like a pyramid.
It is interesting and vital of YHWH to place Genesis Chapter 38 exactly between the account of Joseph’s deportation into slavery in Egypt (having been sold by his brothers) and the account of his ascension to the second in command in Egypt as his brothers unwittingly prepared to arrive in Egypt and subsequently meet up with Joseph again. Judah was in need of humbling by his own moral failure (having had intimacy with Tamar, his own daughter in law, thinking that she was a prostitute) and then meeting his brother Joseph once again, completely contrite by the Tamar encounter and pregnancy and birth of twin sons. The Two Sticks coming together right there: Judah and Joseph – our Father in Faithful – Ezekiel 37:16 — Yahshua references this One New Man also in the Story of the Good Samaritan with Ephraim and Judah together as one. We continue to watch this amazing wonder, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Christianity did not start in Palestine. It began in Judea. Either you don’t know history or David Ryser doesn’t know it. Palestine wasn’t applied to the region until Hadrian renamed it Palestine circa 135AD after a Judean uprising.
The original quote used modern locations for all regions named. It’s not a nefarious plot of lack of knowledge of history. It just indicates making the concept understandable to people in the modern age. Which is acceptable when teaching a class.
In this context, when people use the term “Palestine,” they do not do so by mistake. They do so either because they are biblically ignorant, or they do so because they have no wish to refer to the region by it’s proper name during that period of time. On the day of Pentecost, when the church was formed, the region was known as Judea. The term Palestine had not been coined yet. David Ryser is a Liberal “Christian” so he is going to use a leading term for the region. That is not difficult to understand and no study on the subject is needed. It should be Basic Christianity 101 to know what this region was called before it was relabeled and to know why it was relabeled.
I’m sorry but saying that that church encouraged the “participation in riots” when the article cited only refers to the protests. That’s a very strong claim for the author to make and something that could fall under “bearing false witness” against this church.
Kenly Wayne-thanks for your comment and the quotation with link. That story powerfully expresses where we are. God keeps tolerating a culture that uses and abuses him. We expect him to adapt to us. But the time will come, and maybe its here, when he will start flipping the tables and driving out the users with a whip.
God was remarkable quiet when the Germans slaughtered millions of Jews and other “underdesirables” during WWII. But somehow this church and the handful of people in it and this “culture” you speak of are too much. Makes sense.
Also this author bears false witness saying that the church encouraged participating in riots. That is not supported by the information in the link provided
I wouldn’t attribute the firebombing of Dresden or 7 million dead Germans to God’s quietness concerning the Jews. But if humanity had the ability to actually hear and obey the sermon on the mount, we would all sow and reap very different outcomes. When the church ceases proclaiming Jesus’ kingdom message, the metaphorical salt has lost its saltiness and has become useless. Per Jesus’ own words, the expected outcome of this condition is the garbage dump.
We are happy for their sacrifice so the Germans could be punished later is your response?
I agree if we followed the sermon in the mount we wouldn’t have Christian nationalists and ardent defenders of Trump!
By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities. -George Mason
This is a fairly disingenuous portrayal of Walz church– the way it’s written suggests that they removed “our Father” from the Lord’s prayer- they did not. They expanded it to include multiple expressions of God (because there are feminine and genderless expressions in scripture) and “our Father” is still there, immediately following what you quoted. I wonder why it was left out?
Also, you noted “and participation in RIOTS is encouraged.” (emphasis mine). That is absolutely false from the article you cited- their church encouraged parishoners to participate in protests, vigils and “come hear community updates on uprising/riots, how we can support our neighbors and how to pray particularly for our neighborhood.” To call that encouraging riots is a flat out lie, not just poor reporting.
And to suggest that Vance is somehow an “Appalachian working-class whisperer” is just silly- he can’t even pronounce Appalachia correctly- and those native see right through him. The see him as a fraud and a grifter, and resent the story that he told of them being widely accepted.
Any church that refers to God in the female gender has got some severe flaws. You can sugar coat it, but you can’t remove the truth of that heresy. Walz did absolutely nothing to quell the riots in Minneapolis for 3 whole days while people were being injured and killed, so I wonder why YOU left that fact out?
There are many feminine descriptions of God in the Bible, are you saying the Bible is actually wrong?
1215 God, feminine descriptions of
Some expressions attribute feminine qualities to God, especially relating to motherhood.
Descriptions of God relating to childbirth
God gives birth to his people Isa 44:2 God giving birth to Israel at the exodus. See also Nu 11:12; Dt 32:18; Isa 44:24
God gives birth to individuals Ps 139:13 See also Ge 29:31; Ge 30:22; Ecc 11:5; Isa 49:5; Jer 1:5
God as a midwife Ps 22:9 See also Job 10:18; Ps 71:6; Isa 66:9
Descriptions of God relating to motherhood
God nurses his people Isa 49:15
God comforts his people Isa 66:13 See also Isa 40:11
God as a mother bird protecting her young Dt 32:10-11; Mt 23:37 pp Lk 13:34 See also Ru 2:12; Ps 17:8; Ps 91:4
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/1215-god-feminine-descriptions
God even has at least one name that is both masculine (El) and feminine (Shadai). and “they/them” are the most accurate pronouns to use for God based on the Hebrew, because God is not singular, but a plurality.
https://godslogic.org/2010/05/notes-on-el-shaddai-the-feminine-expression-of-god
To insist that God is only male is false, and based on the limitations of English translators of scripture. Even in an incredibly patriarchal society, God still described Godself in a plurality, and with feminine characteristics. Walz church is not denying God’s masculinity, but acknowledging that God is also feminine and plural. As the Bible does.
This reeks of speciesism. Why not think of God as a bird, since the bible makes that analogy?
Referring to God as father isn’t a translation limitation, but an appropriate submission to the Son of God who taught his followers to speak of God in this way.
Jen:
Sorry, but Jesus was most definitely MALE. God came to earth in the form of a male body.
You will have to accept that fact at some point, and once you do, I imagine you will understand God far better than you do now.
Walz called in the national guard as soon as someone was shot and killed. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/conflict-erupts-minneapolis-l-protests-over-george-floyd-death-n1216096
I don’t see much evidence the this author believes in anything substantial religious or theological. His snippy little adjectives reflect some very vague attitudes about God that may reflect a hint of agnosticism…???
“Materials published by Pilgrim Lutheran Church instruct parishioners not to refer to God using male pronouns, push congregants to support reparation funds, encourage them to celebrate Ramadan and include a modified gender-neutral version of the Lord’s Prayer, among other liberal practices.”
https://dailycaller.com/2024/08/07/tim-walzs-church-doesnt-like-to-call-god-him-supports-reparations-and-pride-parades/
THE ANTI-CHURCH.
Please stop sugar-coating what is clearly an attempt to strip God of the respect due His name, Jen. If this truly is Walz’s church, all I can say is I agree with his older brother.
Oh no, meeting people where they are at, the horrors!
Oh no, meeting God on HIS terms, and the “horrors” of not remaking God in our image.
Glad you commented, but none of those things remake God in our image.
Celebrating a religious holiday with your neighbor who is not Christian is a great way to be a friend and witness.
Reparation is a Biblical principal.
Is God something incomprehensible to us humans? Human terms limit God, people have different names for God. Who cares if people use gender neutral pronouns.
“Among other liberal practices” is carrying a lot of water.
Donald Maluga:
First, God is not a “thing.” Second, reparation is NOT a Biblical principal if you are describing reparations for slave descendants. Third, God became flesh and dwelled among us. It is unlikely He takes kindly to those describing HIM HIM HIM in “female” or “gender neutral” terms. When on earth, He chose to be….male. Why do you think that is the case?
And, finally, do you have a personal relationship with God? If you do, I am quite surprised you would allow His name to be disrespected and stuffed so unceremoniously into the current trendy boxes pretending to be inclusive.
And, please, “celebrating a religious holiday” that takes away Jesus’s divinity is definitely not the best way to lead others to Christ. There are innumerable other ways to introduce others to Jesus that do not include besmirching who He is and why He came.
Goodness Cynthia, you truly are self righteous aren’t you. A sin, which you will undoubtedly excuse yourself for. Calling into question others faith, when you clearly live a life of fear, serving a tiny, powerless God.
Is reparations a biblical principle? Yes or no. You seem to think this can’t apply to slavery? Is it because you don’t want it to?
Your tiny God is clearly comprehensible to you whilst my God is a vast, how can I know the mind and being of God? A being who created the university. Why would I limit him to the body Jesus filled while on earth?
Has Jesus name been disrespected for thousands of years? God will judge what is disrespect. I will worry about myself in this regard.
Ah, so you have no neighbors who would invite you to Ramadan. I get it, you wouldn’t want to dine with people other than you. Let’s stick to Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas. Should we look up the origins of those holidays?
It is Vance’s Catholicism that means that every male gamete is sacred (HT: Monty Python). Which informs his idiotic goal to punish people (whether single or married) without children using the tax system. Never mind that those without children already do pay more in taxes. His apparent ignorance of how the current tax code rewards people for having kids undermines his status as the supposed policy wonk on the Republican ticket (as quoted in the link below):
https://reason.com/2024/07/29/j-d-vance-says-childless-americans-should-pay-higher-taxes-they-already-do/
One snippet: In this case, the federal tax code is already doing the punishing that Vance wants to dish out. So the only thing Vance has accomplished is finding the most politically toxic way to describe an existing, bipartisan policy.
In doing so, however, he revealed a nasty part of his character and his views on how government should work. Americans should notice that.
Charles Mallet,
Nice try. There is no comparison between calling God disrespectful names and our tax code. The one toys with God Incarnate, the other can be changed by Congress.
Stop trying so hard to make the good look bad and the bad look good. Moral equivalency doesn’t work here. There is good, there is bad, there is sin, there is righteousness. If you can’t tell the difference, you are lost.
I never said they were morally equivalent and whether one is sin and the other is not is irrelevant. The point is that BOTH candidates’ use of religion whether “biblically” correct or not (and it does not matter) to inform and shape their policy agendas. Both candidates are bad for this country in different ways. A pox on both their houses. Both of them are statists and will use the levers of government power to reduce individual liberties, shred the Constitution, and expand the reach and scope of FedGov. The ONLY difference is what parts of the Constitution they will shred and how and where will they expand the scope and reach of government power.
The Constitution is the Supreme Law of this land, not the Bible. Whether God cares, is outraged by being disrespected, or exists does not change that fact one iota. I would rather have an atheist that supports, defends, and follows the Constitution in government any day over a Christian (or any religion for that matter) that doesn’t or uses his religion as a reason to get around/ignore/malign/twist/manipulate/etc the parts of it that he feels is contrary to his worldview in some way.
I’m so proud of your response too. If I worked less I would engage much more. Truth has a level of power exposing duplicity. However Tim AWOL’s own brother endorsed Trump!
You are naive to think JD Vance is not a statist. Since you were probably a toddler during the Reagan years, I suspect you would not know what conservatism is anyway.
https://reason.com/2024/09/01/trump-doubles-down-on-authoritarianism-by-selecting-j-d-vance/
Reason is hardly a leftist, progressive publication.
Ah, name calling, the sign of an intelligent argument. Truly Christ-like behavior. In real time we can see the influence of trump on people when they parrot his anti-Christian behaviors.
Who cares who Tim walz’s brother endorses, I can point to a number of situations like the Republican congressman from AZ whose family speaks out against him, or RFK’s family.
Question: is trump duplicitous when he takes pro choice positions now to achieve power (and save himself from prison)?
Thanks, Dr Cynthia for having the brains, intellect and willingness to respond biblically to comments that seem to be left of scriptural truth. I’m probably not the only one who’s grateful. “The word of the Lord is right and true”
The sad thing is that that Trump/Vance and the Biden/Harris are alike in so many ways. Here is but one example:
Both of them want Washington to stop the sale of US Steel to a Japanese company.
https://reason.com/2024/09/04/leave-u-s-steel-alone/
Crony capitalism at its finest, courtesy of both Team Red and Team Blue.
“The sad thing is that that Trump/Vance and the Biden/Harris are alike in so many ways.” In a secular way. Not in a moral way. And although you will take pot shots at people you think are too young to know anything, (called poisoning the well) you’ve posted nothing on this site that would lead anyone to believe you are anything but a hardcore Liberal.
Eddie, Cathie and Jason:
You have all spoken truth. May God bless you.
Nope this ain’t it.
I’ve seen your comments Cynthia. Full of fear. I’m embarrassed for all of you that you think you serve a truly small God. That politics have clearly become your lord and savior instead of Jesus.