We are living through a critical moment in the nation’s history. With the midterm elections less than 100 days away, questions about faith, power, politics, and the future of American democracy demand attention now—not later.
That urgency is behind “Hijacked Faith: Power, Politics, and the Church,” the latest installment of the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church’s Crucial Conversations series in partnership with the Houston Voting Initiative. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, at 9 a.m. at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church (3826 Wheeler Ave., Houston, 77004).
The program will feature a screening of the documentary Bad Faith, which examines the rise of white Christian nationalism and its influence on the Church, public life, and American identity. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring faith leaders, scholars, civil rights voices, and nationally recognized political strategists.
Understanding how we got here
For Rev. Dr. Angela Ravin-Anderson, director of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church’s Social Justice Ministry, the documentary helped make sense of a political and religious transformation she had been struggling to understand.
After President Donald Trump’s first election, Ravin-Anderson said she wondered whether many Christians had simply been attracted to a popular political personality. Following his second election, however, she said her disappointment centered even more on the overwhelming support he continued to receive from people who profess Christian faith.
“That sent me on a journey to better understand not just what was happening in politics, but within the church itself,” said Ravin-Anderson.
Watching Bad Faith, Ravin-Anderson said, helped connect the dots.
“I realized this wasn’t just about one candidate or one election,” she said. “What we are experiencing today is about a decades-long white Christian nationalist movement shaping our public life.”
That history, she said, is precisely why the documentary matters.
“It helps us understand how we got here, so we can discern where we’re called to go from here,” shared Ravin-Anderson.
From awareness to action
The Houston Voting Initiative says the event is designed to go beyond a film screening and political conversation.
“The Houston Voting Initiative’s mission is to educate, empower, and mobilize communities,” said founder Dr. Annie Johnson Benifield. “This event reflects that mission. We believe civic education is one of the strongest defenses against misinformation, political manipulation, and disengagement.”
Ravin-Anderson said organizers want attendees to leave with more than information.
“Our goal is not for people to watch a documentary, have a stimulating conversation, and go home,” she said. “We want attendees to leave equipped, informed, and activated.”
That means helping participants distinguish between Christian faith and a political ideology that, she said, has appropriated Christian language, symbols, and institutions in pursuit of political power.
The intended outcome is movement—from awareness to participation, from spectators to citizens willing to engage their communities and democracy.
A conversation beyond one perspective
The panel includes Dr. Michael Emerson, author of Religion of Whiteness; Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, civil rights activist and senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church; Bishop Leah D. Daughtry, organizer-activist, political strategist, author and co-founder of Black Church PAC; Ashley Etienne, former communications director to Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former special assistant to President Barack Obama; and Dr. Cleve Tinsley IV, principal of Imaginior Equity Group.
Benifield said the range of panelists was intentional.
“One of the strengths of this event is the extraordinary panel we have assembled,” she said. “We intentionally wanted voices capable of examining this issue from multiple perspectives—faith, history, politics, civil rights, community leadership, and lived experience.”
The goal, she added, is not simply to diagnose the problem but to address what comes next.
“Our goal is not for people to watch a documentary, have a stimulating conversation, and go home. We want attendees to leave equipped, informed, and activated.”
Rev. Dr. Angela Ravin-Anderson
“Our panelists bring knowledge, credibility, and different perspectives to a difficult subject,” stated Benifield. “We are asking them not simply to tell the audience what is happening, but to help answer the more important question: What do we do about it?”
Reclaiming faith’s prophetic voice
Ravin-Anderson described “Hijacked Faith” as an invitation for people of faith to reclaim what she considers the prophetic responsibilities of religious belief.
“Scripture calls us to seek justice, love mercy, defend the vulnerable, and love our neighbors,” added Ravin-Anderson. “Those are not just ideals, they are values that should shape how we engage the world, including policies and public life more broadly.”
Benifield also emphasized that the event is intended to bring people together rather than deepen political divisions.
“We can disagree politically while still defending democratic principles and respecting one another’s humanity,” she said.
The danger, she added, emerges when political disagreement becomes a belief that some Americans are “more legitimate, more Christian, more patriotic, or more entitled to power than others.”
