Reclaiming evangelical: Tim Walz’s progressive faith challenges the conservative label

Reclaiming evangelical: Tim Walz’s progressive faith challenges the conservative label

Commentary by Walter Hesford | FāVS News

For years, social scientists and journalists have critiqued and helped create a group of Christians they call “white evangelicals.” These so-called evangelicals are socially-conservative biblical literalists. They reject modern science, especially the theory of evolution. They fear diversity and are hostile to immigrants. They are nationalists and fear globalization

Recently, these so-called evangelicals have been against a woman’s right to have control over her own body, they oppose granting full rights to the LGBTQ+ community, they question the reality of climate change and they questioned the promotion of vaccinations and the wearing of masks during the COVID pandemic. Many are fervent supports of Donald Trump.

These so-called evangelicals are not actually evangelical.

Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate, is. He is a member of Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Pilgrim Lutheran belongs to the nation-wide Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). As an actual evangelical, Walz stands in opposition to everything espoused by so-called white evangelicals.

I myself am a member of an ELCA church. We don’t all think alike. I’m sure I have knelled around the community table with Republicans. And we certainly are not told from the pulpit who to vote for. Nonetheless, I admit to a certain pride and bias as I commend the stance of Walz and the religious denomination we share.

The ELCA promotes faith in a non-nationalistic God who loves the whole world. It takes seriously its evangelical mission to extend the hands of God to all people, supporting refugee centers and working with other faith-based organizations to provide disaster and hunger relief worldwide. In the U.S., it welcomes asylum seekers and immigrants and promotes progressive programs that enable all people to achieve their full potential as children of God.

Political fruits of Walz’s faith

Since I’m an Idahoan rather than a Minnesotan evangelical Lutheran, in discussing Walz’s performance as governor I’m relying on sources such as Jack Jenkins’ “Five faith facts about Harris pick Tim Walz, a Minnesota Lutheran Dad” and CNN’s “A look at Walz’s progressive policies as Minnesota’s governor.” Judging by these sources, Walz has indeed demonstrated that he is an evangelical Lutheran while governor of Minnesota.

He has shown his concern for his citizen’s general welfare by signing into legislation such policies as a child tax credit, paid family and medical leave, affordable housing, universal school meals and free college tuition for students whose family earns under $80,000, including undocumented students. No wonder his opponents call him a “dangerous liberal.”

On issues of the day, he has consistently taken progressive positions. He has worked to protect abortion rights and gender-affirming care and to extend voting rights to ex-felons. The ELCA as a whole celebrates contemporary science and acknowledges its findings that humans are a major source of global warming. Thus, it is no surprise that Walz supports clean energy technologies to address this grave problem.

Minnesota has a significant Muslim population, including a large community of immigrants from Somalia. Walz interacts with this community, attending Islamic festivals, and pushes back against the Islamophobia for which Trump and his supporters are notorious.

Walz’s years of engagement with China as teacher, friend and critic of its human rights record also reflects his interest in cross-cultural exchanges.

All of this bespeaks a perspective refreshingly broad, refreshingly compassionate, refreshingly evangelical.

Reconsidering the “evangelical” label

All of this opens him to attack from so-called white evangelicals who are actually religious and social conservatives. In Christianity Today’s “Walz’s Brand is More Left than Lutheran Among Minnesota’s Evangelicals,” Harvest Prude, the article’s author, makes the usual mistake of conflating a conservative perspective with an evangelical one. The article draws on opinions from, among others, the members of the conservative Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod — who were upset by Walz’s actions during the COVID pandemic as well as his progressive policies in general.

During this election season, it would be appropriate for social scientists and journalists to reconsider how they use the word “evangelical.” The candidacy of Tim Walz, an actual evangelical and a progressive, provides an excellent opportunity for evaluating the language used in categorizing Christians.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.