Faithful Politics

With the 2026 midterms approaching, the rules around voting are becoming part of the political fight itself. Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey joins Faithful Politics to explain what voters actually need to know about election security, voter registration, mail-in voting, voter ID laws, voter roll purges, and misinformation.

Andrea walks through current efforts to change how elections are administered, including the SAVE Act, challenges involving mail voting, citizenship verification, restrictions on digital voter registration, and the possibility of federal involvement at polling locations. She also explains what happens if you discover you have been removed from the voter rolls and why checking your registration early matters.

The conversation also tackles a larger question: What happens when Americans stop trusting elections themselves? With AI-generated misinformation likely to increase ahead of Election Day, Andrea explains how voters can verify information, protect their ability to vote, and make a plan before problems arise.

GUEST BIO
Andrea Hailey is CEO of Vote.org, the nation’s largest nonpartisan nonprofit voter registration and get-out-the-vote technology platform. Under her leadership, Vote.org has combined digital voter tools, legal strategy, data-driven outreach, and grassroots partnerships to expand access to the ballot. In August 2026, Vote.org announced that Americans had used its platform to register to vote 10 million times. Hailey’s career has focused on voter engagement, civic participation, and election access

What does the Bible actually say about politics, and what happens when Christians allow a political party to shape how they read Scripture?

Biblical scholar Michael Rhodes joins us to discuss Reimagining Biblical Politics and why Christian political discipleship cannot be reduced to a handful of verses or a partisan platform. We explore Christian nationalism, immigration, poverty, justice, political power, and the ways both conservatives and progressives can allow partisan identity to shape their convictions.

Rhodes walks through figures including the Hebrew midwives, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Jesus to show how Scripture offers several models for engaging public life. He also explains his distinction between “outpost politics” within the church and “pilgrim politics” in the wider world.

Book: Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says about Public Life and Why It Matters
https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9781540967558

GUEST BIO
Michael J. Rhodes is Dean of Faculty and Lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, his scholarship focuses on Scripture, justice, poverty, economics, and public life. He is the author of Reimagining Biblical Politics, Just Discipleship, and Formative Feasting, and coauthor of Practicing the King’s Economy. His work also draws on years of Christian community development in Kenya, South Memphis, and South Auckland.

Congressman Jared Huffman joins Faithful Politics to discuss his new book, No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism, and the growing influence of Christian nationalism in American politics and government.

We talk about Donald Trump, January 6, the New Apostolic Reformation, prophetic politics, Christian Zionism, church-state separation, Christian founding myths, and the religious movements Huffman believes are gaining influence at the highest levels of government. We also discuss why a humanist member of Congress decided to write a book about Christianity and what he believes Christians, secular Americans, and political leaders should understand about this movement.

Get No Prophets on Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9781324130482

Guest bio
Rep. Jared Huffman represents California's 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He publicly identifies as a humanist and in 2018 helped establish the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which focuses on church-state separation and public policy grounded in reason, science and constitutional principles.
He is the author of No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism, which examines the religious movements, political networks and theological ideas influencing the rise of Christian nationalism in American government.

Chelsea Kim Long grew up deeply embedded in conservative evangelical Christianity. She knew what she believed, what Christian womanhood was supposed to look like, and the life she expected to have.

Then life got complicated.

Motherhood, a traumatic birth, miscarriage, infertility, a complicated pregnancy, and questions about women's place within Christianity forced Chelsea to reconsider much of the theology she inherited.

But she never wanted to leave Christianity.

Chelsea joins Faithful Politics to discuss her new book, Faithfully Dissident Daughters: Reclaiming Christian Womanhood beyond Patriarchy, and why deconstruction doesn't always end with walking away from faith.

We discuss patriarchy, male headship, women's spiritual authority, abortion, feminine images of God in Scripture, and the tension of being told by some Christians that you've gone too far while being asked by former Christians why you're still holding on.

At the center of the conversation is a simple question: Can you question the Christianity you inherited and still remain Christian?

Bookshop.org - Faithful Politics affiliate link:
https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780664269456

Chelsea Kim Long:
https://www.chelseakimlong.com

Guest Bio:
Chelsea Kim Long is a writer, lay theologian, meditation teacher, and neighborhood pastor whose work explores Christianity through women’s embodied experiences and contemplative spirituality. She co-leads an intentional neighborhood faith community in San Diego, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Her debut book, Faithfully Dissident Daughters: Reclaiming Christian Womanhood Beyond Patriarchy, combines personal narrative, theology, and Christian history to explore women’s spiritual authority, faith reconstruction, and feminine expressions of the Divine within the Christian tradition. The book features a foreword by Dr. Christena Cleveland and releases September 8, 2026, from Westminster John Knox Press.

Why does American patriotism sometimes feel almost religious?

Church historian Wes Crawford joins Faithful Politics to discuss his forthcoming book, One Nation over God, and the complicated relationship between Christian faith, patriotism, and American civil religion.

Crawford explains how the United States developed a kind of civil religion built around sacred texts, symbols, rituals, holidays, and national stories. We talk about why the Constitution can be treated almost like scripture, why the national anthem can carry such emotional weight, and what happens when love of country begins competing with allegiance to God.

The conversation also gets practical. We discuss patriotic church services, Veterans Day, the flag, Christian nationalism, political polarization, cognitive dissonance, and the difficulty Christians face when their political identity becomes intertwined with their faith. Crawford argues that patriotism itself can have a legitimate place, but Christians need to recognize when national devotion takes on the characteristics of worship or begins overriding their religious convictions.

One Nation over God: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780802885470

Guest Bio
Wes Crawford is vice provost and associate professor of church history at Abilene Christian University. His research focuses on American religion, race, and the history of Churches of Christ. He previously served for twenty years as a senior pastor and continues to preach and teach in churches. He is the author of Shattering the Illusion and Courage in the Sheer Silence. His newest book, One Nation over God, examines the relationship between Christian faith, American patriotism, and civil religion.