The midterm elections are four days out. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed's Senate race has become a referendum on whether a Muslim American can be treated as a full citizen. In California, Prop 40 asks voters whether billionaires pay a one-time tax to backfill the Medi-Cal funding the big beautiful bill took away. We cover both — plus the races and ballot measures in between.

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We discuss: the Islamophobic rhetoric aimed at El-Sayed, the Ilhan Omar raid and the citizenship conspiracy that keeps resurfacing, the Los Angeles mayor's race between Nithya Raman and Karen Bass, Adam Hamilton and the "religious Democrat" question, and Prop 40, Prop 41, and Prop 42 on the same ballot, and we make an argument about what loving your neighbor requires of you in a voting booth.

Go Deeper!
Our full interview with Abdul El-Sayed — what a Muslim Senate candidate taught us about "love your neighbor"

Is James Talarico the game changer the right didn't expect?

Billionaires vs. The Gospel: Why You Can't Serve Both

Show Notes:

1. Jesus & The Disinherited by Howard Thurman - https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.260684/mode/2up
2. Peter Beinart Article on Islamophobia- https://peterbeinart.substack.com/p/islamophobia-and-antisemitism-arent?utm_source=substack&publication_id=105260&post_id=221841071&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=3hsepp&triedRedirect=true
3. SafeBAE Tool- https://www.positive.news/society/free-tool-helps-young-men-to-take-responsibility-for-sexual-harm/
4. “Democrats Find God” on Today Explained podcast by Vox - https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast
5. Democratic candidates must be bad Christians - https://religionnews.com/2026/10/22/democratic-candidates-must-be-bad-christians/

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The Progressive Christians Podcast is a ministry of The Loft, a worship community of Westwood United Methodist Church. If you have an idea for the show or want to connect with us, please email us at progressivechristians@theloftla.org.

#midtermelections #prop40 #abdurelsayed #islamophobia #christiannationalism
#progressivechristianity #progressive #faith #politics #popculture #religion #christianpodcast

Abdul El-Sayed is running to become the first Muslim U.S. Senator in American history — and he says his faith is a big part of why. In this full interview, the Michigan Democrat breaks down what "love your neighbor" actually looks like as public policy: how Christians can fight Islamophobia, why he champions Medicare for All, and what gives him hope heading into November 3.

Please note that this is a replay of an episode we recorded the week of May 17th, so our political discussions focus on that news cycle. The general election is November 3, 2026.

👉 Short on time? Start at 5:00 — Abdul on how Christians can fight Islamophobia.

We've been asking for more interfaith collaboration on the podcast, and this conversation delivered. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed blew us away.

Dr. El-Sayed has been vocal about how his religious worldview is part of his holistic philosophy—shaping his time growing up in America and his commitment to loving his neighbors. As he loves to remind us, Dr. Carter is from Michigan, and by the end of the episode, he had all of us considering moving to the Mitten.

Dr. Khyati Joshi grew up within the small Hindu community in Cobb County, Georgia, and the only Christianity she knew was the kind that told her she was going to hell.

She's a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, author of White Christian Privilege, and host of the new podcast series Mixed from Axis Mundi. Her husband is a white Episcopalian, and they chose to raise their son in both traditions, in a country that keeps asking him to pick a side.

This is a conversation about families that refuse to divide and label themselves for other people's comfort. About what the Black-white binary does to a kid who is both. About why she and her husband wanted integration, not a ping-pong match. About the language that finally let her explain her own childhood, and why she rejects the labels people keep putting on her son. And about the emotional tax mixed families pay for the rest of their lives.

We also get into theology, race, religion, and politics, and why Christian nationalism keeps showing up in the middle of all of it — Christopher pushes back hard on whether "you can be both" actually survives anti-Black racism, and Dr. Joshi answers him directly. Stick around to the end for the census story that proves this has always been mixed.

Listen to Mixed from Axis Mundi: https://www.axismundi.us/podcasts/mixed

Dr. Joshi on Substack: Mixed in America: https://khyatiyjoshi.substack.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profkjoshi/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkhyatijoshi/?isSelfProfile=true
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrKhyatiYJoshi

Show Notes:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/19/abdul-el-sayed-heckler-tommy

🎙️ New episodes every Friday, on all platforms.
💛 Support the show! Your tax-deductible donation keeps this ministry going https://secure.myvanco.com/YGTN/campaign/C-168BG?access=tile_direct

📩 Watching on YouTube? Like and subscribe. Listening on Apple or Spotify? Rate, subscribe, and leave a comment — it genuinely helps the algorithm find more people like you. You can find the links to the show and the host's social media here: https://linktr.ee/theprogressivechristians

The Progressive Christians Podcast is a ministry of The Loft, a worship community of Westwood United Methodist Church. If you have an idea for the show or want to connect with us, please email us at progressivechristians@theloftla.org.

#progressivechristianity #progressive #faith #politics #popculture #religion #christianpodcast