Evangelicals for Harris seek to rally support for the Presidential candidate who ‘better reflects Christian values and teachings’
Evangelicals for Harris want to rally evangelical Christians to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and encourage evangelicals to vote for a candidate they believe better reflects Christian values and teachings.
Additionally, the group’s website says supporters desire to emphasize the importance of compassion, community service, and loving one’s neighbor, which they believe aligns with the principles of Harris’s policies and public service record.
A goal of Evangelicals for Harris is to provide a political home for evangelicals who feel disillusioned with former President Donald Trump, urging them to reconsider their political alignment in light of their faith. They argue that Harris’s commitment to social justice, economic equity, and environmental stewardship are key reasons for their support and why she would be a better president for the country.
The Rev. Jim Ball is the founder and chair of both Evangelicals for Biden and Evangelicals For Harris.
Mike Huckabee, former Baptist pastor, governor, and presidential candidate said in an interview on Newsmax Evangelicals for President is antithetical to the gospel and Christ’s teachings.
“Something larger is going on, when the ‘cool kids’ evangelicals endorse someone like Kamala Harris, what are they telling fellow Americans and the world?” said Huckabee.
“They are telling the world it’s OK to be pro-abortion, pro-anti-Israel, pro-transgender supporters, and all these kinds of debased thinking that goes on in our secular and anti-Christian society,” he said. “The reality is that you can’t be pro all of these worldly things and still call yourself a Christian.”
Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies and the director of the Center for Gospel and Culture at Boyce College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agrees.
“(The) group aims to convince evangelicals of the Christian bona fides of Kamala Harris, but they have to distort orthodox Christianity to do so. It is, in fact, a betrayal of the gospel.”
Noted figures supporting Evangelicals for Harris or who have announced their support of Harris for president include Texas pastor Dwight McKissic, who’s been active in the Southern Baptist Convention; Billy Graham’s granddaughter Jerushah Duford, and New York Times opinion and faith columnist David French.
ERLC Issues Harris ‘Explainer’
The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission issued an ‘explainer’ about Harris and what Southern Baptists should know about several of her positions. Below are excerpts.
Position on Life
Harris is the first vice president to make an official visit to an abortion clinic. In 2024, Harris toured a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota. She praised the clinic workers for providing “true leadership” and helping people to have the “healthcare” they need.
In 2020, Harris affirmed her opposition to the Hyde Amendment, which prevents the use of federal funds for abortion procedures, flouting years of bipartisan consensus around the policy. She was also a co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act (2019) which would have prevented all restrictions on abortion procedures.
Additionally, in her role as attorney general, she was a proud proponent of California’s Reproductive FACT Act, which forced pro-life clinics to offer information to pregnant mothers about getting an abortion. Referring to herself as a “co-sponsor” of the legislation, she thanked then-Gov. Jerry Brown for his work in passing the law. Pro-life advocates challenged the law to the Supreme Court where the court ruled that it violated the free-speech convictions of the resource centers in NIFLA v. Becerra.
Position on Marriage and Sexuality
In 2010, Harris refused to defend a constitutional amendment passed by California voters that restricted marriage to only those between a man and a woman. Because she refused to defend it in her role as attorney general, it was left to supporters to mount a legal defense. In February 2013, Harris argued in an amicus brief opposing the bill that the legislation was unconstitutional and that its supporters should not be allowed to defend it in court. The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the defenders of the bill did not have the legal standing to defend it in federal court. The bill was later overturned.
Harris has also been a vocal supporter of the extreme Equality Act which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has been viewed as the most serious threat to religious liberty to be considered in Congress.
Position on Religious Liberty
In 2019, then-Senator Harris sponsored the Do No Harm Act, which would have limited the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The introduced legislation would have prevented appeals to RFRA by religious individuals in instances including appealing anti-discrimination legislation (which would include sexual orientation and gender identity laws) and the provision of healthcare services (which include abortion procedures or the provision of abortifacient contraception). Though the law was not passed, it highlights just one of Harris’s attempts to curtail religious liberty protections.
Conservative Christians cannot afford political apathy. Our faith calls us to be informed, active citizens who seek the welfare of our communities. As we navigate the complexities of politics, let us do so with grace, prayer, and a commitment to glorify Jesus Christ in all we do and who we support for public office.
Related:
Character matters as much if not more than one's political stance. I appreciate the summary of Harris' positions, on balance summarize Trump's positions on respect for women, divorce, sexual assault, fraud (Trump University), business dealings (34 counts of fraud), name calling . . . I am convinced that issues of marriage and abortion can best be dealt with through the preaching and teaching of God's Word, not through legislation - both issues occurred prior to legislative restrictions and will continue now that some restrictions are in place again.