WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Fox News Sunday’s Shannon Bream’s Livin' The Bream Podcast yesterday to speak about how his Christian faith has shaped his career in public service and Democratic values, and why he believes the Democratic Party should be more willing to talk about faith.

During the interview, Senator Coons spoke about how his parents modeled an active and inclusive faith, teaching values that shaped his path to public service. He shared how his family’s guidance influenced his decision to run for office and reflected on the role faith should play in the Democratic Party. Senator Coons also shared how his faith drives his advocacy on foreign aid, poverty issues, and other topics.

Livin' the Bream: Senator Chris Coons On Faith And Politics

Senator Coons: I try to make it clear when I'm at home in Delaware and speaking at events and doing events, that I feel a special obligation to make sure that the way I'm conducting myself as an elected official who represents a million people of a wide range of backgrounds, that I am thoughtful about the concerns of those who are not from a religious background or who happen to be Muslim or Jewish or from the very broad Christian family and to respect their traditions and their holidays and their values. But I think it’s a mistake to hide the fact that most of the Democrats I serve with were moved to get into public service by their childhood experiences in a faith community. A number of my colleagues, as I have started a Lenten reflection series, have come up to me and said, ‘boy, I’d love to join you in that.’

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I do think it's important to remember that the Gospel is not a religious document. It is neither Republican nor Democrat. It does not say, you know, thou shalt prioritize tax cuts over feeding the hungry. It does not say, you know, thou shalt put at the top of your list this concern or that concern. And so communities of faith have had for centuries to try and discern which are the most important of the calls to us from Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament, and I choose to– or I believe that I am correctly prioritizing – a focus on economic justice. There are 2,000 references directly in Scripture to the poor and to the widow and the orphan and the refugee. And it is what Christ focused on, in reading a passage from Isaiah 61 in his first sermon.

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I would like to use the power of government, as I understand it, to ensure that a very small percent, less than 1% of our budget, is being used to feed the poor and the hungry, to help advance access to clean water and public health here at home and around the world… And there are issues that I think have been used to divide us, when in fact an awful lot of what we want to do together crosses that.