Bad Kansan, even worse pastor

“Fifth generation Kansan. Pastor. Author.” These are the words splashed across the top of AdamHamilton.com, the website for the Democrat running this November to represent Kansas in the United States Senate. They also form the core of Adam Hamilton’s playbook as he tries to convince ruby red Kansas to do something it hasn’t done in almost a hundred years: send a Democrat to the U.S. Senate and break the longest continuous streak of single-party control for both Senate seats in the country.

I also happen to be a “Fifth generation Kansan. Pastor. Author.” And I am alarmed by the way Hamilton is manipulating these identities (especially the first two), which connote one thing in people’s minds, but represent something entirely different in Adam Hamilton’s candidacy.

Take “Kansan.” In the popular imagination, Kansans are conservatives through and through. There’s a reason why Superman is from Kansas. Kansans stand for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. We are a largely agrarian people who live close to the land, which forms our political instincts. Beef is our No. 1 export—which is also very American. So why would Hamilton call on his congregation to “repent” for eating beef and driving trucks? What is more un-American—and un-Kansan—than that? And how are there Kansans contemplating support for a candidate who has more in common with the Acela Corridor than the Chisholm Trail?

More concerning, though, is Hamilton’s invocation of his position as a Christian “Pastor” to garner support to represent Kansans in the U.S. Senate. My ministry as a Christian pastor is built on the Word of God to preach a message of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ. Hamilton’s ministry has been built on questioning the Bible and telling people they actually can live without Jesus. As an author, Hamilton has written books like, Making Sense of the Bible, where he dismisses whole swaths of the Scriptures as containing teaching that “never ever reflected the heart and character of God,” and Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White and Christianity and World Religions, where he defends the idea that adherents of false religions can be saved.

These are pretty strange views for someone who claims to follow Jesus, who himself said “I am the way, the Truth, and the Life,” and “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” But Hamilton’s views on the Bible help explain how his political views are more in line with New York liberals than Kansas voters.

Take Hamilton’s stance on life, family, and traditional values. The Bible is patently pro-life. Hamilton is openly pro-abortion. The Bible is obviously pro-traditional marriage and families. Hamilton is disturbingly pro-LGBTQ lifestyles and identities—even using his own pulpit and church resources to peddle Pride.

Hamilton embraced and promoted these liberal views as pastor of the largest United Methodist church in the United States. It should be noted that these were the very views that led to the recent split in his denomination, with the conservative churches standing with the Bible and the liberal churches like Hamilton’s continuing to promote progressive political agendas, contrary to 2,000 years of church history.

Here’s the bottom line: Adam Hamilton wants Kansans to see him as a middle-of-the-road moderate, and he is using identity politics to try to get there by appealing to his status as a fifth-generation Kansan and pastor. But identity is meaningless without the substance. Any honest look at Hamilton’s public record shows that he is as out of step with Kansas as he is with historic Christianity.

True Kansans stand for truth, justice, and the American way. And pastors are called to warn the flock. Consider this my warning.