On the eve of a historic “stand-up” strike, United Auto Workers (UAW) president Shawn Fain delivered a speech that sounded like a sermon. “One of the first things I do every day when I get up is I crack open my devotional for a daily reading and I pray,” he revealed. “I chose to be sworn in [as president] on my grandmother’s Bible, which I have here with me . . . .  I’m proud to have inherited my grandma’s Bible and her faith.”

The Good Book was no mere prop in Fain’s hands. In his remarks, he quoted Matthew 17:20–21, in which Jesus says, “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Fain used these words to dramatize the winnability of the battle ahead, vowing, “Yes, these corporations are mountains, but together we can make them move,” before appealing directly to the UAW’s rank and file: “So I have to ask you: Do you have faith? Are you ready to stand up together and move that mountain?”

For Fain, the Bible is more than a source of feel-good inspiration. It boasts a sharp economic justice edge, leaving no doubt that God takes sides in the perennial struggle between the haves and have-nots. He insisted that the UAW’s is a “righteous fight” and, commenting, “there’s one more piece of scripture I like,” cited Matthew 19:23–24, in which Jesus declares, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”