Dear Christian Republicans,

Since the first memory I have ever had, I knew I was a Christian. From Church on Sunday and praying before dinner to Bible School and church camp, I was a normal Christian kid. For most of my life, all the people around me were very similar — sincere Christians who loved Jesus and others — and my childhood was full of incredible role models for of the Christian faith. My parent’s small group of Christians who met at my house each week shaped how I saw what it meant to be a Christian. Because of this childhood and broad experience with good loving Christians in my life, I have rarely questioned the value and importance of my faith. Likewise, my experiences with Christians has been one of disproportionate conservatism. While it was rare, a conservative slant often escaped from behind the pulpit and from in-between the pews. My friend's parents were conservative Republicans, thus my friends were and so was nearly everyone else I knew. I, however, was a Democrat.

For as long as I have been a Christian, I was also a Democrat. In 2000, I remember sitting by my mother, anxiously awaiting the results of the presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush and the disappointment that lingered with us at the result. Eight years later, the inspirational figure of Barack Obama and his message of hope in America’s future and belief in — and example of — the American Dream captured my imagination. Though I was too young to vote for him, I was deeply inspired. Volunteering over the years for half a dozen different Democratic candidates, I began to see being a Democrat as much a part of my life as being a Christian.

This was not remotely shared by my peers or nearly anyone in my life other than my family. For many of the Christians, I knew to be a good Christian also meant, by necessity, that you would vote for Republicans. Growing up around the kind of Christians that I did, I automatically understood why they believed this and the values they held which led them to this choice. For a time, I even questioned my partisanship because of their incredible examples of the Christian faith.

I no longer have those moments of doubt about my partisanship, nor do I feel compelled to consider my religion in conflict with my choice at the ballot box. In fact, I have come to see that the Jesus of the Bible and the progressive views of many Democrats are hardly divergent. The message of kindness and respect which Jesus shared in his Parable of the Good Samaritan seems to me, perfectly in line with an arms-wide-open stance on welcoming migrants from around the world no matter their race or religion. The love and respect with which Jesus of Nazareth treated the poor, the sick, and outcast, is for me a statement that all those who seek to follow him must also strive to respect the least among us. In this vein, I find no difficulty in voting to extend a hand to the weak, the poor, the disabled, and the downtrodden in our society. Likewise, it seems unthinkable that the Jesus who said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ” would want me to deny others the rights and privileges my future spouse and I will enjoy. (Matthew 5:10; Mark 12:31). The words of Jesus Christ and the practice of the Christian faith, finds no conflict with my views as a Democrat, indeed it is often because of my faith that I remain a staunch Democrat.

For me, this November will be an easy choice. I will choose to support the quietly devout Methodist and boldly progressive Democrat who may become our first Madam President. For many of my Christian friends, however, this election has put them between a rock and a hateful, sexist orange place. For months they have been willing to gloss over his hate speech, his demeaning of immigrants and his flouting of the family values they hold. Maybe for some, their faith and their politics are not something which they have deeply considered, but for many of the Christians I know, that is not the case.

So to the thoughtful conservative Christians I know so well, I must ask: How will you vote this November? Will you allow your habitual partisanship to undermine the faith you express so fervently on Sundays? Will you convince yourself that there is no conflict between the values you hear from the pulpit and what is being spewed from that podium? When November comes, will you truly choose the arrogant and hateful Republican — who could never be mistaken for a conservative- over the life-long Christian who is also a Democrat? The choice seems self-evident.

So Christians, which will it be this November: your party or your faith?

Sincerely,

A Christian Democrat