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When an atheist asked Tom Perriello how his Catholicism would affect his approach to governing Virginia and whether he could keep the two separate, the former Democratic congressman answered carefully. Faith, he said, is both “one of the most powerful forces for justice in the world” and a vehicle for “repression and dehumanization.”

“My relationship with my church is complicated,” Perriello told the crowd in a small room at a Richmond LGBT community center in mid-March. “And my faith is complicated.”

Once a leading light of the religious left who made faith-based outreach a key feature of his successful 2008 run for Congress in the conservative 5th District, Perriello’s political comeback bid has focused more on the secular than the sacred.

Summing up his political calling in past campaigns, Perriello often quoted the biblical prophet Micah’s description of what God asks of his followers: “to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” When Perriello talks about what motivated him to make a surprise run for governor and challenge Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam for the Democratic nomination, the story has been a little more ominous. And it starts with the election of President Donald Trump.