The AND Campaign’s 2020 Presidential Election Statement

I recently signed the AND Campaign’s 2020 Presidential Election Statement. It reads, in part:

The upcoming presidential election marks a significant decision point for our nation. This moral moment requires principled conviction from politicians, but even more so from the American people. Christians have a particular obligation to provide this moral leadership. No candidate will be perfect, but Christians can hold both parties accountable to a vision for the common good that is not fully represented in either party platform.

While a misappropriation of the separation between Church and State has sometimes been used to suggest people of faith are the only people who can’t consider their values when participating in politics, we know that both our faith and the demands of citizenship require that we bring our full selves to the project of self-governance.

Our Christian faith’s call to recognize the image of God in every person and to love our neighbor as ourselves compels us to speak into the public square to promote social justice and moral order. We have a spiritual responsibility as followers of Jesus to seek common ground and the common good. We are obligated to protect the vulnerable and defend human dignity even of those with whom we disagree.

If you feel like there’s little place for you in the current political climate and you think that Biblical values and social justice don’t have to be at odds, then I suggest checking out the AND Campaign’s statement. As a friend on Facebook wrote, “Having long felt homeless and adrift in both our political and ecclesial settings, we perceive in this statement something that embodies both biblical faithfulness and good, neighborly public policy-making.”