Note: A guest piece by Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, senior director of policy & advocacy for the Interfaith Alliance.
I stood on the patio of the Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Florida, last year watching a woman in a QAnon shirt get baptized in a small inflatable pool while a line of people waited to be healed by a far-right conspiracy peddling “prophet.” Attending the ReAwaken America Tour (headlined by disgraced general Michael Flynn) and a “Pastors for Trump” event there was an eye-opening experience for me: one-third pandemic lies, one-third election denialism, and one-third Christian revival.
ReAwaken America has barnstormed the country in support of Christian Nationalism since 2021, when Flynn called for the United States to have “one religion.” The harm done by ReAwaken America has been well documented by A Public Witness and other outlets. It’s one of several far-right extremist tours mixing religion and politics this election season, alongside Charlie Kirk and Lance Wallnau’s’ “The Courage Tour” and Sean Feucht’s “Kingdom to the Capitol Tour.”
These tours get a lot of media attention, and rightly so. But they’re only one part of the story.
Watching far-right extremists misuse religion to divide people gave me an idea: the pluralist resistance to Christian Nationalism also needs to hit the road. And I’m happy to report that we did indeed hit the road on Monday (Oct. 28) on our Interfaith Alliance bus tour to bring people of diverse faiths together. We kicked off “The Vote is Sacred Tour” in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Tri-Faith Initiative, where a mosque, synagogue, church, and interfaith center share a campus. It’s a beacon of religious hope in our divided country.
Representatives from each of the houses of worship spoke at the press conference we organized. Karim Khayati with the American Muslim Institute spoke about how “supporting democracy is deeply aligned with our religious values.”
“A core principle of Islam emphasizes justice, equality, and welfare of our community at large,” he explained. “We understand the importance of religious diversity, pluralism, and freedom. These values are crucial, particularly here in the United States, where different beliefs coexist. For Muslims in America, promoting freedom of religion is not merely an ideal, but it’s a fundamental necessity. It ensures that we all can participate in our own faith without fear of discrimination, And we can always celebrate our religious diversity that enriches and continues to enrich our society.”
Christian and Jewish leaders echoed that message.
“Supporting democracy is key to supporting our values because we know that if Christian Nationalism wins the day and creates a theocracy for our country, our right to practice Christianity in the way that we do, specifically in ways that love and affirm LGBTQIA+ persons and support women in ministry, amongst other distinctive aspects of our wide and radical welcome, this right will be compromised,” said Rev. Sarah Rentzel Jones of Countryside Community Church. “A certain narrow conservative fundamentalist view of Christianity would be prescribed for us and it would limit our autonomy and our fundamental freedoms.”
“There is no one religious vote or religious voice here in America. America is not represented by any one religion, any one race, any one color, any one sexuality, any one gender, or any one zip code,” said Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin of Temple Israel. “And next week we have the opportunity to remind America that this is what democracy looks like. Because it looks like this. It looks like us.”
After the invigorating launch event, we headed to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Tuesday rally and press conference in front of the state Capitol with Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.
One highlight from our Des Moines stop was remarks from Rev. Betsey Monnot, bishop of the Episcopal Church of Iowa.
“There’s a lot going on in Iowa that does not look like love of neighbor,” she said. “Taking away the rights of Iowans to access the health care that they need is not love of neighbor. Legalizing discrimination against LGBTQ people, people of color, or any other historically undervalued children of God in the name of religious freedom is not love of neighbor. Banning books in schools and libraries across this state is not love of neighbor. And White supremacy hiding under the name of Christian Nationalism is not love of neighbor. People of all faiths and of no faith need to come together in the streets, in the state house, and over the next days, the next eight days at the ballot box to vote on the principle of the love of our neighbors.”
We also heard from state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, who is also a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
“What I hear when I go door to door when I’m out in the community is that the people are longing for a government that works for the good of them, for the good of all people,” she said. “People are seeking elected leaders who listen, who show up, who care, who work hard for all of the people in their districts. The people want to know that they are heard, that their voice is valued, that it matters.”
Yesterday’s stop was in Madison, Wisconsin. We parked the bus in the parking lot at The Crossing Student Ministry on the campus of the University of Wisconsin and delivered doughnuts to students as they walked to class in the morning. We partnered with the Wisconsin Voter Engagement Campaign to distribute voter education materials along with the doughnuts.
Post-doughnuts, we held a rally and press conference at First United Methodist Church in Madison with a view of the Wisconsin Capitol behind us. Rhonda Lindner with Wisconsin Voter Engagement Campaign and several speakers from the Wisconsin Council of Churches spoke to the media.
Rev. Dr. Joy A. Gallmon, pastor at St Mark’s AME Church and state lead of Faiths United to Save Democracy, said that “we’re called to lift your voices, not just in worship ... [but] at the ballot box.”
Rev. Chakravarthy Zadda-Ravindra, pastor of First Baptist Church of Waukesha, reflected on Genesis 1 and democracy in his remarks: “In the beginning, when God was thinking about making this whole world, he used the word, let us make. So it is the plurality of a Triune God … democratically making a decision to make this world. And so we as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, we participate in God’s continued creative work.”
I’m writing to you from the back of our bus as we make our way this morning to Carthage College in Kenosha for a second day of doughnut deliveries in Wisconsin. We then head to Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania for voter canvassing and more press conferences. We’ll end the tour on Election Day with a block party in Philadelphia.
The first three days of the tour have been a whirlwind of logistics for our team at Interfaith Alliance. It’s been inspiring to witness diverse religious leaders in city after city come together at this critical time for our democracy. Our aim to bring much-needed attention to the pro-democracy faith movement is bearing fruit. There has been local TV coverage at every stop so far, as well as some national press. We’re ensuring that it’s not just Christian Nationalists who are the focus of faith-based election activism.
We named our trip “The Vote is Sacred Tour” in honor of the late Congressman John Lewis. He once said, “Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.”
The right to vote can’t be taken for granted, especially as extremist groups threaten our democracy and freedoms. It’s up to each of us to respect the democratic process and recommit to the peaceful transfer of power.
The type of religious extremism that I witnessed at the ReAwaken America Tour can lead many religious Americans to recoil at the mention of mixing religion and politics. I get that reaction. But I’m convinced that we who claim to be people of faith must respond and represent mainstream religious views in our country. We can’t cede the discussion of faith-based election activism to the loudest, craziest voices in our country.
It’s disturbing to be anxious about the election — not because of who will win (that’s normal in any election!) but because we’re unsure if the election results will be undermined. In this time of division and unrest, I’m grateful to hit the road and partner with religiously diverse Americans who believe in democracy. Together we can build a multi-religious, multi-racial, inclusive democracy for all. That’s the awakening I want to be a part of.
As a public witness,
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
Thanks so very much for the report on this important, critical effort. Thankful for the dedication and committment you are demonstrating. God Bless your continuing efforts!!