Moralizing Politics: Toward a Pentecostal Public Theology of Democratic Ethics in Romania

ABSTRACT: This article examines the ethical crisis in Romania’s 2024–2025 presidential election, arguing that the problem is not the absence of ethics, but rather its ideological distortion and performative misuse. Moral language—once a means of civic deliberation—has been co-opted for political tribalism, emotional manipulation, and rhetorical spectacle. The article proposes that the renewal of public ethics requires more than critique: it demands theological reconstruction. Drawing on insights from Bonhoeffer, Hauerwas, Volf, Kuyper, and especially Pentecostal theology, the study articulates a vision for ethical reconstruction rooted in humility, discernment, and the common good. Pentecostal public theology—through its pneumatological imagination, liturgical practices, and eschatological hope—offers distinct resources for resisting moral absolutism and fostering prophetic, Spirit-led engagement in the public square. In contrast to performative moralism, this framework emphasizes ethical presence, communal repair, and justice-oriented love as pathways toward democratic renewal. KEYWORDS: moral polarization, Romanian politics, performative ethics, ethical reconstruction, political theology, public witness, spirit-led discernment, Pentecostal public theology