Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican . . . Or Democrat

A leader of the new generation of progressive evangelicals reclaims her faith from partisan politics, in this debut book in the acclaimed “Does Not Equal” series

“To let the religious right define evangelical . . . wipes out the memory of real people who lived and fought for just causes and just social policies because of their faith. . . . I refuse to let the religious right confiscate my heritage.” —from Evangelical ­≠ Republican . . . or Democrat

A new breed of evangelicals, with a fiery passion for economic justice, racial reconciliation, and care for the environment, has abandoned the religious right.

Lisa Sharon Harper, a rising star in this movement, describes the roots of this political shift, the agents of change driving it, and, in interviews with leaders across the political spectrum, the extent of the evangelical rejection of the right-wing political agenda. In Evangelical ­ ≠ Republican . . . Or Democrat, Harper lays out a manifesto for the new progressive evangelical movement, drawing inspiration from the biblical concepts of shalom and the kingdom of God, as well as from historical predecessors such as William Wilberforce, Sojourner Truth, and John Perkins.

Harper offers a powerful indictment of the religious right, of its role in hijacking evangelical passion and dividing Christians against each other, and—in an agenda that is racist and sexist to the core—of its abandonment of the gospel. She shows how evangelicals, in disengaging from partisan politics, can reclaim their roots and become a new moral voice for the nation.

Praise

“Lisa Sharon Harper is the leader of the ecumenical struggle to end poverty in New York. A prophetic evangelical, Lisa is successfully organizing people of faith to embody God’s justice in the world.”
—Peter Heltzel, Assistant Professor of Theology, New York Theological Seminary

Goodreads Reviews