Support for socialism is on the rise in the U.S. What’s the religious response?

Matt Bernico is an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Greenville University in Greenville, Illinois. He co-hosts “The Magnificast,” a podcast on Christianity and leftist politics.

Elizabeth Bruenig is an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, writing most often on politics, religion and morality. She is Catholic and has written about her support for socialism.

Janine Giordano Drake is a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University. She is currently working on a book about Christian socialism.

The Rev. Art Lindsley is vice president of theological initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics. He researches religious teachings on economic systems, including Bible passages used to justify socialism, and was co-editor of Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism and For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty.

Sarah Ngu is the host of the “Religious Socialism” podcast, a project of the Democratic Socialists of America’s Religion and Socialism working group. She’s also co-founder of Church Clarity, which aims to reduce confusion tied to churches’ teachings on women and members of the LGBTQ community.

Maria Svart is national director of Democratic Socialists of America, a national political organization. DSA members who cite spirituality as a source of their political views have the opportunity to join a religion and socialism working group.

Julian Strube is a postdoctoral research fellow on religion and politics at Heidelberg University in Germany. His dissertation was on socialism and Catholicism, and he’s since argued that socialist beliefs are a source of modern religious practice.

Movita Johnson-Harrell is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She got involved in gun violence prevention efforts after the death of her son in 2011 and became the first Muslim member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2019.