From “The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy” by Jim Wallis
Do we believe that all of us – of different races and culture, citizens or immigrants, Americans or from any nation, of every faith and no faith – are equally created in the image of God – or not? That’s what Genesis 1:26 asks of us.
And what does the first chapter of the first book in the Bible have to do with voting rights?
Everything.
This early Genesis text is the moral foundation for voting rights – and all the human rights that any of us have. Will we dehumanize the “other,” those who are not like us, or will we embrace the image of God (imago dei in Latin) in the equal humanity of all people, of all humankind? This is not just a theological question but a very practical one. Therefore, any strategy to make it harder for Black and brown, low-income people, and young people to vote is nothing less than an assault on the imago dei. That is why our spirituality is at stake here, far more than just politics.