...Each of these pastors has his or her own reasons to run, but as a group, they appear to have been impelled by two occurrences. First, they are responding to what they see as President Donald Trump’s blatant repudiation of Christian morality. Ryerse said: “Trump is an anathema to everything I was taught to love about Jesus. ... His disdain for decency, disrespect toward basic tenets of right and wrong and complete disregard for the most vulnerable among us could not be more fundamentally un-Christian.”

Secondly, the pastors have been reacting to the rise of Christian nationalism. Christian nationalists contend that the United States is a Christian nation and that the government should protect and give priority to what they see as Christian belief (for instance, by reinstituting school prayer).

Talarico has probably been the most outspoken in denouncing this trend. “I define Christian nationalism as the worship of power — social power, economic power, political power — in the name of Christ. And in my reading of the gospel, Christian nationalism is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. It’s a betrayal of Jesus,” Talarico has said.

These progressive Christian candidates see the contemporary right as betraying true Christianity. Rather than insisting on humility and concern for the weak, Trump has preached a gospel of success that edges toward cruelty. This creed, along with the rise of a post-religious right, has opened an opportunity for the left to reclaim Christianity.

Doug Pagitt, a Minneapolis pastor, founded Vote Common Good in 2018, in the wake of Trump’s election. He has been a key figure in encouraging liberal and progressive pastors to run. “These candidates watched how the Trump administration has weaponized religion and the way Christian nationalism has been put forward,” he said. “They are putting themselves on the ballot as if it say, ‘Christian nationalists are not going to speak for all Christians.’”...

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