Justin Giboney, an attorney and political strategist in Atlanta, Georgia, recently helped recording artist and writer Sho Baraka launch “The AND Campaign,” an initiative the Christian Democrat described as “a response to the fact that many urban Christians feel like they don’t fit into either side of today’s ideological and political dialogue.”
“[What] we’ve developed is a diverse coalition of urban Christians that are determined to galvanize our demographic around a new way of thinking about politics and civic engagement,” Giboney said via email. “We’re rejecting the orthodoxy of the far left and the far right by embracing both the compassion (and) conviction of the Gospel in our political participation. We believe that Christians have an obligation to care for the least of these and bear witness to biblical truth. Accordingly, our politics must pursue social justice (and) biblical values.”
Giboney, also founder of Crucifix & Politics, was elected by Georgia’s 5th congressional district as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and served as the co-chair of the Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative.
In his discussion on Faithfully Podcast, Giboney explains the vision and mission behind The AND Campaign and shares his personal views on why socially-conservative Christians tend to vote Democrat, how a Christian can remain “salt and light” in politics, pastors “selling” their congregation for financial gain, and much more.
Editor’s Note: After the interview, Giboney sent a note to clarify his response to a question asked at 24:36 in this episode of Faithfully Podcast: “Do you find that it’s younger Americans who are responsive to what’s going on politically, or is it older Americans, or do you find that there’s a mix?”
“I wanted to make one point of clarity. In my answer about the political participation of young people versus older people, I was referring to the fact that older people vote in larger numbers, which isn’t disputed. However, The AND Campaign is primarily focused on younger Christians. Not exclusively, but primarily. Engaging young people is extremely important,” Giboney said in his email.
