Kansas Democrat Senate candidate Adam Hamilton is facing renewed scrutiny over a 2020 sermon in which he urged his congregation to recognize White privilege and repent.
The remarks add another controversy to a campaign already shadowed by questions about Hamilton’s progressive politics in the pulpit, as reported [1] by Red State.
Hamilton is among several Democrat candidates drawing attention ahead of the midterm election. The field has also included former Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner and James Talarico, a candidate on the far left whom President Trump has nicknamed “TalaFreako” during Republican rallies.
RedState reported Wednesday that Talarico struggled during a CNN town hall when potential voters pressed him about abortion, the Bible, the SAVE America Act, and other issues. The broader concern is that he has tried to package Democrat positions and radical causes as moderate.
Hamilton presents a similar problem for Democrats in Kansas. He is the senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, which The New Yorker describes as “the largest United Methodist church in the country.”
Hamilton cofounded the church in 1990, and it now has multiple locations in Kansas and Missouri while broadcasting online and on television. He has been pastoring there for 36 years and is now seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate.
His sermons have featured a striking blend of religion and progressive politics. In one message about climate change, Hamilton urged parishioners to consider giving up meat as a form of repentance while discussing cattle and greenhouse gases.
“Some of the things that we grow, because we like to eat them, like cattle, end up producing more carbon dioxide than other crops that we could grow, other forms of food that we could have,” Hamilton told church members.
“And so, in all of these ways, we are creating or adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in our world.”
An outside advertisement also highlighted other controversial subjects associated with Hamilton’s church and sermons. The advertisement said Hamilton told White Christians to repent, called for repentance over cattle ranching, and used church funds for drag queen story hours for children.
The latest focus is Hamilton’s sermon following George Floyd’s death in Minnesota during the summer of 2020. The message, titled “Jesus, Protests and Repentance,” called on his congregation to recognize White privilege and repent.
“Like part of what I know is that, is that I grew up in a way that I’m blind to certain things in our society,” Hamilton said. His description of his own upbringing and status quickly moved into the supposed benefits attached to his identity.
“I just am. And I have certain benefits by virtue of being educated, White and male, right?” Hamilton said. The candidate then acknowledged that White people may not want to hear his argument.
“And we don’t like to hear that, especially White folks don’t like to hear that. But there are benefits that come along with that,” he continued.
Those remarks are now raising eyebrows as Hamilton competes in a close Senate contest against Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). Real Clear Politics considers the Kansas race one of eight contests in the toss-up category for the midterms.
Republicans have poured more money and other resources into Marshall’s race. Democrats, meanwhile, have faced their own challenge in trying to generate strong support from their base in Kansas.
Kansas Democrats, including Hamilton, recently all but begged Kamala Harris, the losing 2024 Democrat presidential nominee, not to campaign for them. That reluctance hardly projects confidence in the national party’s ability to help the Kansas ticket.
Hamilton’s campaign has also drawn criticism for an advertisement claiming Marshall had a woman arrested over a missed $50 medical payment. Townhall’s Amy Curtis described that advertisement as dishonest in a late September report.
In a red Midwestern state, claims that can be easily debunked are risky political material. So are sermons criticizing cattle, meat, and White Christians while a Senate candidate asks Kansas voters to trust his judgment and send him to Washington.