Everyone in America has heard of James Talarico by now. He is the relatively young, openly Christian, seminary-educated, Texas legislator running for the US Senate as a Democrat. He wears his Christian faith on his sleeve, so to speak, no hiding it or keeping it quiet.
Most have not heard yet of Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in America, Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas. Adam has recently announced that he will run for the US Senate from Kansas as a Democrat.
Talarico I don’t know. I know Adam. Adam was one of my first students when I began teaching theology in 1982. I have been with him since. I’m extremely proud to have been his teacher.
I know little about Talarico’s Christian beliefs, but I know he attended a Presbyterian seminary in Austin, Texas. I know about Adam’s Christian beliefs. Some of them I disagree with, but I don’t know anyone I agree with entirely. “Where two think the same, one is superfluous.”
There has been a “Christian Left” tradition in American politics for well over a century. One of the most unexpected names in it was William Jennings Bryan, a religious fundamentalist but a political liberal. He was candidate for president twice. Another one was Harold Stassen, a liberal Republican who ran for president (but never received the nomination) about ten times. A liberal Catholic priest served as a senator from Massachusetts until the Vatican made him step down. There have been others.
But what stands out about Talarico and Hamilton is their openness about their Christian identities. Personally, I think the Democratic Party would be more successful in politics if more of its politicians were openly Christian. They need to follow Talarico and Hamilton and not only to get votes. The party needs to find more like them and put them forward as candidates.
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