Pete Buttigieg shouldn't lead the religious left. There shouldn't even be a religious left.

[marylandblue]

22. The article draws on a subordinate Christian tradition, not the dominant one.

Christianity has always had a political expression, at least since Constantine, but probably going back to when it was just a Jewish sect, and all the Jewish sects then were political.

Some have always thought Christians should not participate in politics as Christians, some don't even vote for this reason. But that was never the dominant strain. There has always been Christian politics in this country. It has leaned right wing since the 1970s, but prior to that it was more mixed.

So the question is not whether there will be Christian politics. There will be for as long as there are Christians. The question is what sort of Christian politics will we have? One dominated by the right so that the Church becomes an arm of the Republican Party? Or one with more diversity, reflecting the diversity of America? In either case, you don't really have a say in the matter, Christians will make their own choices and you may chose to either ally with some of them or reject them.