By Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive

With all the political turmoil raging in the country right now, is there any faith leader brave enough to defend the middle ground?

Sherman Frederick

There is, and she’s right here in Nevada — Episcopal Bishop Elizabeth Gardner, above.

With other bishops using their positions to advocate for political positions, such as New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop A. Robert and Washington, D.C.’s Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Nevada’s bishop is a voice in the wilderness calling the church to be a safe place of worship, free from partisan politics of the day.

In her newsletter last week, Bishop Gardner, who lives in Reno, told a story about how, as a young parishioner in the nation’s capital, she was bombarded with partisan political messages from the pulpit when all she wanted to do was worship and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

As the Bishop of Nevada, then, she will stand in defense of “the middle space where everyone is invited to worship and be in community.”

She believes that, as a religious leader, that is what “being brave” looks like in these divided times. If more people “would make the middle a safe space, that would give the world a great gift.”

The middle ground can be a lonely place to stand these days. We wish Nevada’s Episcopal bishop well in her advocacy.

THE MIDTERMS

Democrats expecting smooth sailing to a midterm comeback just got a bad weather report.

No, it’s not the news that tariffs are working, inflation is controlled, prices are down, and the economy is cooking at a breakneck pace. It’s not the news that hard-nosed immigration enforcement has produced reverse migration for the first time since the Mayflower returned to England. And it’s not the fact that peace is breaking out worldwide in the most unexpected places under President Donald Trump’s leadership.

It’s this news, courtesy of the NYPost, that “President Trump will treat the November midterm election like a presidential campaign — traveling like he’s on the ballot, flooding key races with cash, and hammering home how his policies will help Americans with affordability. He’s going to campaign like it’s 2024.

Democrats hold a traditional edge in the elections this fall. As a general rule, the party out of power wins the midterms in Congress.

I’d still give Democrats the edge at this point, but the news that Trump will make the elections personal will give Republicans some hope for an upset.

Democrats hold less than an ideal hand this year. They can’t come off unpopular issues like supporting the right of trans boys to play in girls’ sports, the blocking of ICE officers from deporting child rapists, and defending “the right” of protesters who disrupt church services.

Add that to the tasks of defending Joe Biden’s autopen presidency, and the massive fraud that took place under the nose of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the guy the party nominated for vice president last time around, and we’re seeing a pretty fair fight shaping up this year.

Buckle up, boys and girls.

(Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada journalist and a member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. You can read more from him at shermanfrederick.substack.com.)