Robinson’s words, and those of the Shepard family, provided a powerful blueprint for a politically progressive, radically inclusive Christianity. Like the sermon of Bishop Michael Curry, the presiding — and thus most senior — bishop of the American Episcopal Church who delivered a fiery liberation theology-tinged sermon about social justice at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Robinson’s words seemed designed to present a religiously radical Christianity — and, in particular, a mainline Protestant tradition — as a viable and necessary alternative to the political conservatism and pro-Trump nationalism increasingly associated with white evangelicalism in America.[...]
Robinson’s speech, like Curry’s before it, should be seen in a much wider context: the potential resurgence of the mainline Protestant tradition for political progressives. While historically centrist Protestantism has been in decline for the past few decades — ceding its cultural and political influence to the evangelical right — prominent mainline figures and institutions have become increasingly political in recent years.[...]
These numbers might not be significant. Political liberals, particularly young ones, are far more likely to be religiously unaffiliated than, say, Episcopalian — nearly 40 percent of liberals self-identify as religious “nones.” But Robinson’s words, like Curry’s, offer a vision of a religious tradition that marries a commitment to fight social injustice with a theologically robust account of why that fight is so important. For Robinson and Curry alike, a commitment to inclusion and justice isn’t just part of political progressivism, but part of the Christian message itself.
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