Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
American Prophets and the Progressive Religious Tradition

American Prophets and the Progressive Religious Tradition

Last updated on: May 10, 2020 at 6:31 pm by Philip Jenkins

American Prophets and the Progressive Religious Tradition 2020-05-10T18:31:08-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here is a book that I look forward to reading but have not yet cracked open. Journalist Jack Jenkins (no relation!) has a new book out called American Prophets: The Religious Roots Of Progressive Politics And The Ongoing Fight For The Soul Of The Country (Harper One, 2020). And no, I am not just writing this on the tribal basis of “We Jenkinses must stick together.” Rather, he raises a critical point about the intersection of religion and politics throughout US history.

The book is written from a strongly left/progressive viewpoint, and to say the least, its opinions are not mine. (I draw your attention to the excellent American Conservative, where I serve as contributing editor). Here is the HarperOne description of American Prophets:

Jenkins profiles Washington political insiders—including former White House staffers and faith outreach directors for the campaigns of Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton—as well as a new generation of progressive faith leaders at the forefront today, including:

Rev. William Barber II, leader of North Carolina’s Moral Mondays and co-chair of the nationwide Poor People’s campaign
Linda Sarsour, co-chair of the Women’s March
Rev. Traci Blackmon, a pastor near Ferguson, Missouri who works to lift up black liberation efforts across the country
Sister Simone Campbell, head of the Catholic social justice lobby and the “Nuns on the Bus” tour organizer
Native American “water protectors” who demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock
Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop

I can find something friendly, or at least charitable, to say about everyone on this list, except for Linda Sarsour, whose repulsive views on Islamism, Islamic regimes, and Israel should place her way beyond everyone’s pale of acceptability. If she’s an American prophet, then I’m Marie of Roumania.

I quote the book description from Publishers Weekly.

he devotes chapters to individual topics, including health care, electoral politics, racism, police violence, immigration, environmentalism, economic inequality, LGBTQ equality, hate crimes, and multifaith work. A particularly revealing section details his reporting on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, where Hawaiian tribal elders successfully protested to halt the environmentally destructive construction of a large telescope. His investigation into Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz., a church that has become a bedrock of the New Sanctuary movement sheltering the undocumented, is also a highlight.

Those examples sound fascinating.

But if I am so far removed from the book’s target audience – and if Jack Jenkins and Philip Jenkins stand at opposite poles on so many key issues – why am I publicizing American Prophets here? Basically, because if reflects a theme that I so often stress in my writing and teaching, which is that it is all but impossible to understand American political history, left or right, without that religious angle. In some cases, such as abolitionism, that linkage is clear enough. But imagine how the New Deal would have fared if not for the enormous support of Catholic clergy in supporting union activism. The more you look at key industrial centers like Pittsburgh, the more you realize the pivotal significance of those legendary “labor priests.”

I once worked on Philadelphia’s Cardinal Denis Dougherty (1918-51), who was rigidly authoritarian even by the standards of the Catholic church of his era, and who was fervently anti-Communist, but who was close to fanatical in his opposition to racial segregation or discrimination of any kind. He happily threatened excommunication against any Catholic who instituted or enforced segregation.

In later eras too, let me know if you ever find a way of understanding the Civil Rights movement except in the context of the black church. I certainly can’t. Think of the rhetoric, the imagery, the symbolism, the hymns, not to mention the clerical background of the key figures. Was this not a Fourth Great Awakening? Likewise, historians write a lot about Cesar Chavez, who (they claim) organized protest marches and did a well-publicized hunger strike. No he didn’t. As he explicitly said, the organized pilgrimages and undertook a religious fast. His followers commonly used the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

As everyone knows, Jews have historically played an enormous role in social activism. In some cases, these were people who rejected organized religion, but many others were driven by explicitly Jewish themes, traditions, and scriptures. They weren’t activists who happened to be Jews, they were progressive because they were Jewish, and that was how they expressed their Judaism. Big difference. The same is true in their way of many Catholics through the decades.

Throughout American history, look at peace movements, environmentalism, immigrants’ rights movements – this is absolutely nothing new. The sanctuary movement? Just where, in the 1980s, did they get the very Catholic language of “sanctuary”?

I would also place heavy stress on American sects, new religious movements and “cults.” They have so often served as social laboratories for progressive causes, especially gender and racial equality, but many other themes, including anti-imperialism, environmental awareness, and dietary reform. Often, innovations that began on the religious margins have worked their way into the social mainstream so thoroughly that we forget their origins. I talked about those influences at length in my 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs.

I offer the example of Theosophy, about which I have often blogged here. This very influential movement had some frankly mad ideas about human history and race, and their “ancient” and antediluvian scriptures were wholly invented. Even so, between the 1880s and 1930s, they did a vital job of mainstreaming the idea that Western, white, technological, Christian civilization was not the only form of high culture on the planet, nor necessarily the most advanced, and that other cultures – especially from East and South Asia – were at least comparable. That was a daring insight for the time. Theosophists also played a critical role in mainstreaming the idea of Indian independence. Such ideas now seem so normal that it is hard to appreciate how strange they appeared at the time, at the highwater mark of imperial ideology at its most aggressive and expansionist, and of white supremacy.

Jack Jenkins is addressing the latest (and definitely not last) phase of a fundamentally American story. It’s sad to think that many reviewers will come to this book with a note of surprise that, whoa, religion can be progressive!

I would be very, very, amused if people start assuming that I am the Jenkins responsible for American Prophets, and get to wondering about my supposed political transformation. I’ve dealt with one example of such confusion already.

And while I am publicizing books I may not entirely agree with, I note Tony Keddie’s Republican Jesus: How the Right Has Rewritten the Gospels (University of California Press, due October 2020).

By the way, Publisher’s Weekly recently did a very good survey of several recent books on “Faith’s Changing Role In Politics: Religion publishers explore the numerous ways faith and social issues overlap in today’s political climate.” On Monday, I will be discussing one of the titles mentioned, Paul Matzko’s excellent new study of The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement.

Previous Post

May 7, 2020

Native Americans, the Ten Lost Tribes, and the Book of Mormon

Next Post

May 8, 2020 The Changing Meaning of V-E Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe Guest Post guest post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What prophet challenged King Ahab and Queen Jezebel over Naboth's vineyard?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Amos Nathan Elijah Elisha