S11:E7 The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Shapes (and Misshapes) American Politics with Kaitlyn Schiess

Can the Bible still guide faithful political engagement—or has it been too abused to help?

In this timely conversation, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore welcome theologian, author, and Holy Post co-host Kaitlyn Schiess to discuss her book The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here.

Together, they explore how American Christians have wielded (and often weaponized) the Bible in public life. From Romans 13 and the Revolutionary War to slavery, civil rights, and the rise of Christian nationalism. Kaitlyn offers both a critique of misuse and a hopeful invitation: to reclaim Scripture as a source of wisdom, hospitality, and faithful witness in the public square.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Why the Bible still matters for politics (even after all the misuse)
• How Romans 13 has been used to justify everything from rebellion to tyranny
• The disturbing history of biblical defenses of slavery and what we can learn from Black interpreters
• How the civil rights movement modeled faithful, embodied, Scripture-shaped resistance
• Why pastors and leaders must form people for faithfulness, not just political alignment

📌 Highlights:

• [00:06:00] How Scripture became “weaponized” in the American Revolution
• [00:13:00] Romans 13 and the danger of using the Bible to win political arguments
• [00:19:00] How enslaved believers read the Bible differently and more faithfully than their oppressors
• [00:27:00] MLK and the Black Church as a model for Scripture-shaped activism
• [00:33:00] Why true political discipleship starts in the church, not the state

The problem isn’t that the Bible speaks to politics; it’s that we’ve forgotten how to let it form us before we use it. The call today is not to abandon Scripture in public life but to recover its use as an act of love, truth, and hospitality.

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• The Ballot and the Bible by Kaitlyn Schiess
• The Liturgy of Politics by Kaitlyn Schiess
• The Spirit of Our Politics by Michael Wear
• Reckoning with Power by David Fitch
• The Christian Imagination by Willie James Jennings
• The Fire in My Bones by Albert Raboteau
• Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon

When Scripture is used to defend power instead of form faith, everyone loses.

What would it look like to read the Bible not to win debates, but to become the kind of people who can love, listen, and lead in public as followers of Jesus?