Abstract
Since the election of President Donald Trump in November 2016, the United States has undergone a period of immense social change. Several policies instituted under former President Barack Obama have been threatened or removed, including those on immigration and speech issues. During this period of national discourse and disagreement, clergy have become leaders in social movements to protect immigrants and vulnerable populations against deportation and hate speech. This thesis builds upon previous literature on religious social movements, clergy’s congregational and community roles, and the intersection between religion, politics, and sociology to address ask the following research question: How have clergy who identify as politically progressive responded to political and social events following President Donald Trump’s election? What have they done, how have they thought about it, and why? This qualitative study examines 13 politically progressive Jewish, Protestant, and Unitarian Universalist clergy in Boston and their action in issues of immigration and speech. The central finding is as follows: Clergy in this sample were more easily able to act on immigration issues than speech issues because they understood these issues as religious, immigration was acted upon by their peers, and clergy could harness the social capital available to them in their position (due to lack of congregational conflict). The same was not true with speech issues, which may be explained by the complex, constitutional nature of free speech as an issue, by the lack of religious coalitions taking action on free or hate speech in the Boston area, or by the conflicts that arose around speech issues for several clergy. In future action, clergy both should continue to harness their social capital to bring about social change and also have an opportunity to become more involved in legal and legislative policy action.