Faith Meets Finance: The Rise of Biblically Responsible Investing
For decades, investors have been asked to align their portfolios with their politics, their environmental values, and their social philosophies. Now, a growing segment of the market is asking a different — and far older — question: What would Jesus do with your brokerage account?
Biblically responsible investing, commonly known as BRI, is not a new concept, but it is experiencing a dramatic surge in mainstream visibility. As traditional ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) frameworks have come under political fire from conservative investors, BRI has stepped forward as an alternative that screens companies through the lens of Christian scripture rather than progressive policy priorities. And in that framework, some surprising names are making the approved list — including data analytics giant Palantir Technologies.
Perhaps even more surprising? Elon Musk's SpaceX would not qualify.
What Is Biblically Responsible Investing?
Biblically responsible investing is a form of values-based investing that uses the Bible as its primary ethical guideline for evaluating companies. Rather than simply avoiding "sin stocks" like tobacco, alcohol, and gambling — a practice that dates back to the Quakers in the 18th century — modern BRI frameworks are considerably more sophisticated.
BRI funds and advisors typically screen companies across a range of criteria drawn from Christian moral theology. These screens may include a company's stance or involvement in abortion and abortifacient products, pornography, human trafficking, predatory lending, and content that conflicts with traditional family values. On the positive side, BRI frameworks often favor companies that demonstrate support for religious freedom, community development, and ethical labor practices.
Several financial firms now offer dedicated BRI funds and advisory services, including Inspire Investing, Timothy Plan, and Eventide Asset Management. Each uses its own proprietary screening methodology, but all share the foundational goal of ensuring that a Christian investor's capital is not inadvertently funding activities that contradict their faith.
Why Palantir Passes the Biblical Test
At first glance, Palantir Technologies might seem like an odd candidate for faith-based approval. The company, co-founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, builds data analytics and surveillance platforms used by intelligence agencies, defense contractors, and law enforcement bodies around the world. Its tools have been central to U.S. military operations, counterterrorism efforts, and immigration enforcement programs.
Yet for many BRI screeners, this is precisely the point. The biblical concept of government as a divinely ordained institution charged with maintaining order and protecting the innocent — articulated in passages like Romans 13 — provides a theological foundation for supporting companies that serve national defense and law enforcement functions. Palantir's core mission, as its advocates frame it, is the protection of Western democratic values through superior information analysis.
Palantir does not manufacture weapons, does not produce pharmaceutical products that could be considered abortifacient, and is not involved in entertainment, media, or content businesses that might conflict with traditional values. When run through typical BRI negative screens, it clears most of the major hurdles. For faith-driven investors who are also bullish on defense technology and data infrastructure, Palantir has become a notable — if somewhat counterintuitive — portfolio inclusion.
Why SpaceX Doesn't Make the Cut
SpaceX's exclusion from BRI consideration has less to do with rockets and more to do with its corporate ecosystem and ownership structure. Elon Musk's ventures are deeply intertwined, and SpaceX exists within a broader Musk enterprise that includes entities and activities that do not pass standard biblical screens.
Additionally, SpaceX is a private company, which means it is not accessible to most retail investors through standard equity markets regardless of its moral standing. But beyond accessibility, the Musk brand carries associations — through other ventures, public statements, and business decisions — that create friction with BRI criteria at various screening firms. The confluence of factors means that even investors who admire SpaceX's technological achievements may find it excluded from their faith-aligned portfolios.
This distinction highlights one of the more nuanced aspects of BRI: it is not simply a matter of what a company does in isolation, but how it fits within a broader network of associations, leadership values, and corporate conduct.
BRI vs. ESG: A Battle for the Conscience of Capital
The growth of BRI comes at a moment when ESG investing is facing significant backlash from conservative lawmakers and investors who argue that it politicizes capital markets and imposes a left-leaning agenda on corporate behavior. Numerous Republican-led states have passed legislation restricting state pension funds from using ESG criteria in investment decisions.
BRI has positioned itself as an ideologically distinct alternative — one that rejects both secular progressive values and the profit-at-any-cost mentality of purely conventional investing. For the approximately 65% of Americans who identify as Christian, BRI offers a coherent framework for ensuring that personal faith and financial behavior are not in conflict.
The assets under management in BRI-aligned funds remain small compared to the broader ESG universe, but growth has been consistent. As more advisors develop BRI competency and more funds launch with explicit biblical screening, the market is maturing rapidly.
Practical Considerations for Faith-Based Investors
For individual investors interested in exploring BRI, there are several practical steps worth considering.
- Research BRI-focused funds: Firms like Inspire Investing and Timothy Plan offer mutual funds and ETFs built around biblical screens, giving investors diversified exposure without the need for individual stock analysis.
- Understand the screening methodology: Not all BRI frameworks are identical. Some are stricter than others, and a company that passes one screener may not pass another. Always review the specific criteria used by a fund or advisor before committing capital.
- Consider engagement as well as exclusion: Some BRI practitioners advocate for shareholder engagement — using ownership stakes to advocate for policy changes inside companies — rather than purely avoiding problematic firms.
- Balance faith alignment with financial due diligence: BRI is a values filter, not a performance guarantee. Companies that pass biblical screens still carry market risk, and investors should conduct standard financial analysis alongside their faith-based evaluation.
The Broader Meaning of the Palantir Moment
The fact that a defense-focused data surveillance company has become a symbol of faith-aligned investing says something profound about how American Christianity and American capitalism are intersecting in the current moment. It reflects a particular theological tradition — one that sees national security, law enforcement, and the exercise of state power as legitimate expressions of divine order — and it illustrates just how much context shapes the application of any values-based investment framework.
What would Jesus do with a brokerage account? The answer, it turns out, depends on who you ask, which scriptures you emphasize, and how you understand the relationship between faith, power, and money. For a growing number of Christian investors, the answer increasingly involves rigorous portfolio screening, a healthy skepticism of secular ESG frameworks, and — perhaps unexpectedly — a position in Palantir Technologies.
As BRI continues to evolve, it will force both the financial industry and faith communities to grapple with increasingly complex questions about complicity, stewardship, and the ethics of capital. That conversation, however uncomfortable it may sometimes be, is one worth having.