Editing Christian left (section)

== History ==
=== Early years ===
For much of the early history of [[anti-establishment]] leftist movements, such as [[socialism]] and [[communism]], which was highly [[anti-clerical]] in the 19th century, some established churches were led by clergy who saw revolution as a threat to their status and power. The church was sometimes seen as part of the establishment. [[Revolution]]s in the [[United States]], France and [[Russia]] were in part directed against the established churches, or rather their leading clergy, and instituted a [[separation of church and state]].

In the 19th century, some writers and activists developed the school of thought of [[Christian socialism]], which infused socialist principles into Christian theology and praxis. Early [[socialist]] thinkers such as [[Robert Owen]], [[Henri de Saint-Simon]] based their theories of socialism upon Christian principles. [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] reacted against these theories by formulating a [[secular]] theory of socialism in ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''.

=== Alliance of the left and Christianity ===
Starting in the late 19th century and early 20th century, some began to take on the view that genuine Christianity had much in common with a leftist perspective. From [[St. Augustine of Hippo]]'s ''[[City of God (book)|City of God]]'' through [[St. Thomas More]]'s ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'', major Christian writers had expounded upon views that socialists found agreeable. Of major interest was the extremely strong thread of [[egalitarianism]] in the [[New Testament]]. Other common leftist concerns such as [[pacifism]], [[social justice]], [[racial equality]], [[human rights]], and the rejection of excessive [[wealth]] are also expressed strongly in the [[Bible]]. In the late 19th century, the [[Social Gospel]] movement arose (particularly among some [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglicans]], [[Lutheran]]s, [[Methodist]]s and [[Baptists]] in [[North America]] and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]],) which attempted to integrate [[progressivism|progressive]] and [[socialist]] thought with [[Christianity]] to produce a faith-based social activism, promoted by movements such as [[Christian socialism]]. In the United States during this period, Episcopalians and Congregationalists generally tended to be the most liberal, both in theological interpretation and in their adherence to the Social Gospel. In Canada, a coalition of liberal Congregationalists, Methodists, and Presbyterians founded the [[United Church of Canada]], one of the first true Christian left denominations. Later in the 20th century, [[liberation theology]] was championed by such writers as [[Gustavo Gutierrez]] and [[Matthew Fox (priest)|Matthew Fox]].

=== Christians and workers ===
To a significant degree, the Christian left developed out of the experiences of clergy who went to do pastoral work among the working class, often beginning without any social philosophy but simply a pastoral and evangelistic concern for workers. This was particularly true among the Methodists and Anglo-Catholics in England, Father [[Adolph Kolping]] in Germany and [[Joseph Cardijn]] in Belgium.<ref>''Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum'' (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953.</ref>

=== Christian left and campaigns for peace and human rights ===
{{see also|Peace churches}}
Some Christian groups were closely associated with the [[peace movement]]s against the [[Vietnam War]] as well as the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|2003 Invasion of Iraq]]. Religious leaders in many countries have also been on the forefront of criticizing any cuts to [[social welfare]] programs. In addition, many prominent [[civil rights]] activists were religious figures.<ref>Bass, S. Jonathan (2001) ''Blessed Are The Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"''. Baton Rouge: LSU Press. {{ISBN|0-8071-2655-1}}</ref>

=== In the United States ===
{{See also|Evangelical left}}
In the United States, members of the Christian Left come from a spectrum of [[Christian denomination|denomination]]s: [[Peace churches]], elements of the [[Protestant]] [[mainline (Protestant)|mainline]] churches, [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholicism]], and some [[Evangelicalism in the United States|evangelical]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hall|first=Charles F.|date=September 1997|title=The Christian Left: Who Are They and How Do They Differ from the Christian Right?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3512477|journal=[[Review of Religious Research]]|volume=39|pages=31–32|doi=10.2307/3512477|jstor=3512477|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Martin Luther King Jr. ====
{{See also|Martin Luther King Jr.|Southern Christian Leadership Conference}}
[[File:Martin Luther King, Jr..jpg|thumb|[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in 1964]]
[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] was an American [[Baptist]] minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the [[civil rights movement]] from 1955 until [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|his assassination]] in 1968. Inspired by his [[Christian beliefs]] and the nonviolent activism of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], he led targeted, [[nonviolent resistance]] against [[Jim Crow laws]] and other forms of discrimination. In 1957, King and other civil rights activists founded the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC). The group was created to harness the [[moral authority]] and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist [[Billy Graham]], who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group in Friendship, founded by King allies [[Stanley Levison]] and [[Ella Baker]]. King led the SCLC until his death.
As a Christian minister, King's main influence was [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of [[Golden Rule|loving your neighbor as yourself]], loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His [[Nonviolence|nonviolent]] thought was also based in the injunction to ''[[turn the other cheek]]'' in the [[Sermon on the Mount]], and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous "[[Letter from Birmingham Jail]]", King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other [[Christian pacifism|Christian pacifist]] authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:<blockquote>Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry. I have no other ambitions in life but to achieve excellence in the Christian ministry. I don't plan to run for any political office. I don't plan to do anything but remain a preacher. And what I'm doing in this struggle, along with many others, grows out of my feeling that the preacher must be concerned about the whole man.</blockquote>