In new book, Warnock shares vision for straightening out politics

The first time U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock cited Isaiah 40, verses 4 and 5, during a sermon was a Sunday morning at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 2018.

President Donald Trump was in his first term in office, and many congregants felt frustrated and defeated by the divisive policies they witnessed. Warnock said in his sermon that the prophet Isaiah provides words of hope but also a road map on how to move forward.

In the ensuing years, Warnock continued to return to this passage as his profile grew, especially when he was elected to the Senate in 2021.

Now, during Trump’s second term and arguably even higher angst from those who disagree with or believe they have suffered under the president’s direction, Warnock has turned his Isaiah 40 sermon into a 162-page book.

“The Crooked Places Made Straight” comes out Tuesday — the day of a primary runoff in Georgia and a day ahead of a special legislative session where the Republican-led General Assembly plans to redraw the state’s political maps. In it, Warnock doesn’t just diagnose what he believes has gone wrong under Trump 2.0. He outlines a vision on how to strengthen America and address issues such as gun violence, climate change and uneven distribution of wealth.

“The truth is that the partisan and petty rhetoric of politics today is simply too puny a language for the magnitude of the problems we face,” he writes early in the book. “Instead, I urge us to look to Isaiah as a lens through which to view the problems that confront us and the possibilities within and around us.”

He knows not everyone will agree. But he is hopeful the book leads to some soul searching, and its release was purposely timed to America’s 250th birthday celebrations.

In the book, Warnock talks about various “crooked places” he believes need to be straightened, such as elections where he believes gerrymandering and opportunities for people to donate and spend unlimited amounts of money have corrupted the system.

But he also talks more generally about the role of government, such as funding for social services that he believes even the playing field to give children from all backgrounds a chance to succeed. And he says Isaiah makes the case for inclusion and diversity during a time when Trump has attacked such efforts.

Warnock described his book as “a values proposition.”

“I’m trying to talk to people in the middle and people on the right, and say, ‘We may not agree on all the policy, but can we agree on these things?’” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently.

"The Crooked Places Made Straight" is the latest book by Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

That’s easier said that done. While promoting the book, Warnock faced pushback from a top Republican who disagrees with his progressive ideals about religion and the role of government.

The New York Times posted a video of Warnock criticizing Republicans for praying before voting to cut Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program while extending tax cuts for the wealthy. That caught the eye of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who asked the senator for a meeting. The two talked face-to-face in a short, closed-door meeting Tuesday and agreed to stay in touch. But they didn’t agree on much else.

“I was happy to meet with Sen. Warnock today and have a positive, fruitful discussion about matters of faith and our different opinions regarding public policy,” Johnson told Politico. “Such dialogue is important because it is always more productive to have these conversations face to face.”

Warnock told the AJC that his words in the video and in the meeting with Johnson were no different from what he has preached for years: He doesn’t think Republicans act very Christlike at times.

“I said to the speaker directly what I said in the interview,” Warnock said. “That it’s a contradiction to pray and then take a trillion dollars out of Medicaid, leaving people without healthcare, and to put forward draconian cuts that literally take food out of the mouths of hungry children and working families.”