The Politics of the Cross

Daniel K. Williams argues that evangelical Christians should support progressive economic policies including expanded welfare and childcare programs, higher taxes, and subsidized access to healthcare and education. These policies, he argues, are not only effective tools for combating poverty and inequality, they are also effective tools for addressing the issues of abortion and traditional marriage—they alleviate the economic pressures that discourage marriage and childbearing. In this way, evangelicals should be non-partisan critics of the Republican Party’s economic policies as well as critics of the Democratic Party’s social policies. Supporting progressive economic policies, however, will come at a cost—evangelicals will need to sacrifice their own self-interest in religious liberty and low taxes for the sake of others—an act he terms the “politics of the cross.” To build his case, Williams offers a mixture of history, theology, and public policy. He begins with chapters on the role of the church in the...

Abortion · Democracy · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Public policy · Sacrifice · Sociology · Subsidy · Theology · Welfare · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development