Part of Pete Buttigieg’s appeal is his ability to come off as a clean-cut candidate. He partially attributes this decency to his Christian values. The mayor has even decided to place morality at the center of his campaign. He described evangelical support for Trump as frustrating and hypocritical during an interview on “Meet the Press.” 

This kind of criticism is not new and goes like this: Trump’s choices are fundamentally against moral Christian values — he has affairs with porn stars, brags about sexual assault and became pro-life only after announcing his presidency and realizing he would face backlash from actual Conservatives if he continued praising Planned Parenthood — but he enjoys widespread support from Christian voters. 

Buttigieg argues for Democratic values and policies often using the Bible as a guide. In discussing immigration, Buttigieg alludes to Leviticus 19:34: “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” He also believes that Republican policies have hurt the poor and increased wealth inequality. They have attempted to cut social security, Medicaid, Medicare and welfare. Mayor Pete’s argument posits that these programs help society’s most vulnerable members, which the Bible teaches is necessary. 

The argument taps into the Pope’s criticism of Trump as well as earlier varieties of Christianity that focused on helping the poor, such as Liberation theology or the social teachings of the Second Great Awakening. However, the Pope represents a minority of Christian and Liberation theology, and social doctrines are mostly just found in history books these days. Modern American Christianity is about a handful of cultural signifiers on abortion, LGBTQ rights and is intertwined deeply with Western chauvinism. 

Although Buttigieg is offering a well-meaning alternative to what he sees as a misguided theology, his vision of a different kind of Christianity is unlikely to ever become popular. His style of talking to the people about the issues and changing their minds will not work. Evangelical voters and most Christians are solidly Republican and their religious beliefs are tied to unfettered capitalism. Think of Joel Olsteen’s “prosperity gospel” or the scandal out of Jerry Falwell’s Christian Liberty University in which senior university officials openly admitted that they did not care about education and were using the University as a “real estate hedge fund.”

Much of modern American Christianity is a cynical cash grab that lost its Biblical roots long ago. Buttigieg is wasting his time to treat it as a serious theological movement that is worth arguing against. Those who believe in it will not be convinced if he makes a Bible-based argument because they are cafeteria Christians who only follow the parts of the religion that their politics align with. The Washington Examiner has already released a cynical hit piece that attempts to paint Buttigieg’s vision of Christianity as a Trojan horse to turn America into an atheist paradise. It alleges that the mayor intends to end the tax-exempt status for religious institutions (despite an announcement to the contrary) and criticizes him for terrible behavior such as having a cordial relationship with Governor Mike Pence and Mayor of South Bend despite disagreeing with him theologically. 

Furthermore, Christianity is extremely complicated, and its teachings do not fit well into any political party’s platform. People who believe that Jesus agrees with them at the ballot box are fooling themselves and whitewashing the inherent dirtiness that comes with politics. 

Buttigieg’s misunderstanding is wider than simply religion. His penchant for looking at opponents as friends who simply disagree is well-meaning but ignores reality. American politics is far too polarized for this outlook which is only shared by a dying breed of centrist Democrats. 

Joe is a senior in LAS. 

[email protected]