Christian leaders in the US have joined forces to form a new group to lobby for a "better vision" in political life.
The founders of Public Faith are calling on Christians "to work within political parties" to advocate essential Christian ideals and "to change parties or create new ones" when reform is no longer feasible.
In one of the most contentious elections of recent times, neither engaging in the US "culture wars" nor withdrawing completely from the political process like a "conscientious objector" will help the nation through its difficulties, the group says.
It warns against engaging in "greater political hostilities".
The group has 13 founding members. Its two leaders are Michael Wear, who has worked for President Barack Obama at the White House and specialises in faith and public life, and Alan Noble, editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture.
They have been working on setting up the group during the campaign as it became clear how divided Christian voters are over Donald Trump in particular.
Wear told The Tennessean: "That's really the impetus especially with this election with evangelicals not having a comfortable home with the Republican nominee. We felt like it was important to do something before the election that allowed and provided a different, a renewed kind of Christian voice in politics."
The group's vision statement says: "When policies or structures oppress or unjustly target any group of people, we are all harmed."
It calls for "continued inclusion" of people and organisations from different beliefs.
"We believe strongly in religious freedom for all as a bedrock principle that will be essential if we are to build a more inclusive America in this new century.
"Such freedoms include religious minorities – including Muslims – and religions that hold beliefs that are unpopular. Religious freedom is not absolute, and religious freedom should not cause undue harm to achieve political ends, but it should only be infringed upon in the most extenuating circumstances, and only when absolutely necessary. This idea is not new, but reflected in both statutes and our Constitution.
"Christian institutions deserve full inclusion in American society, and efforts to starve or stigmatise Christian institutions by force of law or government-endorsed marginalisation should be opposed."
