Progressives urged to reunite on justice issues

POLITICIANS’ INTEREST in left-leaning Catholics and evangelicals “has waxed and waned” under the presidency of Barack Obama but they could make their voice heard again if they focus their efforts on fighting for economic justice, a new report has found, writes Michael Sean Winters.

The report by the Brookings Institution last week claimed that since the success of President Obama and the Democrats in 2008 “led not to a redoubling of interest on the progressive side of religion, but quite the opposite … Engagement with religion has atrophied”. The report said that hurdles to a politically effective, religiously based agenda included the fact that religious progressives are less homogeneous in their political views than religious conservatives, and that while 56 per cent of Republicans describe themselves as religious conservatives, only 28 per cent of Democrats self-identify as religious progressives.

However, the report also noted that among Americans aged 18-33, one-third described themselves as religious progressives compared to only one-sixth who said they were religious conservatives.

The report also suggested that a renewed focus on income inequality might serve as a rallying point, uniting civic and religious themes as happened during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.