As scholars have documented the rise of a transnational Christian Right that mobilizes religious networks to contest liberal democratic norms in Europe and beyond, less attention has been paid to the dissenting voices within those same religious traditions who actively resist this trajectory. This paper examines moderate and reform-minded evangelical actors who are working both within the United States and transnationally to claim Christian identity away from nationalist, illiberal, and exclusionary appropriations, and to advance humanitarian, egalitarian, and democratic ends rooted in their reading of the teachings of Jesus.
The paper develops three empirical case studies: first, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) in the United States, which has institutionalized a reform evangelical identity in explicit opposition to fundamentalism and Christian nationalism, championing human dignity, freedom of religion and belief for all, and social inclusion; second, evangelical advocates for immigrants and migrants in Minnesota, whose faith-based organizing draws on perceived Christian imperatives of hospitality and justice to protest anti-immigration politics frequently framed in Christian nationalist terms; and third, evangelical missionary networks operating in Europe in the context of the war in Ukraine, whose humanitarian commitments on the ground challenge the Russian Orthodox aligned "traditional values" narrative that has provided religious legitimation for the conflict. Together, these cases contribute to the panel's broader inquiry by demonstrating that religion's role in contemporary social movements cannot be reduced to its illiberal expressions. The same networks that fuel authoritarian mobilization are also sites of contest for those working toward social equality and democratic pluralism.