A group of evangelical leaders has launched a coalition to support Senator Kamala Harris for president, saying on its website that Harris “better reflects Christian values” than Republican Donald Trump and has led a “life of public service that reflects our faith in Christ.” The Evangelicals for Harris coalition was launched recently and includes several names well known in the evangelical community, including Dwight McKissick, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and former trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Claude Alexander, pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, a member of the board of directors of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and chairman of the board of directors of Christianity Today. The list of supporters also includes Jim Ball, executive vice president of policy and climate change at the Evangelical Environmental Network.
Its website, translation:announced that more than 200,000 evangelical Christians have signed a pledge to support Harris-Waltz.
“Evangelicals do not need to change who they are; they simply need to reaffirm who they are by voting for someone who better reflects our Christian values,” the statement said.
The coalition held a Zoom call on Wednesday to rally support for the Democratic candidate.
“Harris Evangelicals is a project born out of our faith in the Christian common good,” the website reads. “As evangelicals, we have a God-given calling to love our neighbors, serve those less fortunate than ourselves, and stand up for the vulnerable.”
Don’t miss this —
This is the official speaker list for the “Evangelicals for Harris” Zoom call for Fellowship & Action.
We invite all Christians and people of good will to join us for encouragement on a Zoom call on August 14th at 7pm EST.
Sign up here:… pic.twitter.com/H9YugWsFOk
— Evangelicals for Harris (@Evangels4Harris) August 10, 2024
“We should let our light shine in all aspects of our daily lives, but fulfilling our mission in today’s world requires us to get involved in politics,” the church added. “Whether it’s voting, sharing our beliefs on social media, or campaigning, we need to ensure that our words and actions are consistent with our core Christian values of love, service, justice and mercy.”
But critics say the coalition is promoting unbiblical positions. Denny Burke, a professor of biblical studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said: World opinion The column noted that the website said nothing about Harris’ “radical” positions on abortion and gender.
“This website does not describe the faith that was ‘once for all to be committed to the saints’ (Judas 3“This is barbaric, partisan syncretism. It is wrong for any Christian to portray this kind of message as faithful to the Christian gospel. In fact, it is a betrayal of the gospel. It is not evangelical. It is not Christian. Don’t be fooled by it,” Burke wrote.
Evangelical supporters say Vice President Kamala Harris is a “deeply committed Christian” and that her Christian faith includes Hindu idolatry and participation in a non-Christian form of Judaism.
There is no mention of Jesus or His death and resurrection for sinners… pic.twitter.com/17pZNOOH6v
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) August 10, 2024
Harris “supports the legal right to kill a child throughout the nine months of pregnancy” and “opposes legislation that would protect the lives of babies who survive abortions. Of course, abortion is infanticide,” Burke wrote.
Robert A. J. Gagnon, a visiting biblical scholar at Wesley Theological Seminary, also criticized the notion of “evangelicals for Harris.”
“Evangelicals Support Harris‘ It is a contradiction and an insult to our intelligence.“ Gagnon wrote on X, “The two great idols of the Democratic Party are abortion and repressive transgender and gay policies, which amount to state child abuse. The two most extreme proponents of these twin idols are Harris and Waltz, the high priests and priestesses of these cults. Their idols are the crucial, transformative issues of great social importance.” it is Why is the Harris/Waltz pairing making that their two top priorities?“
Stop gaslighting us. “Evangelicals supporting Harris” is an oxymoron and a direct insult to our intelligence. The two great idols of the Democratic Party are abortion and repressive trans and gay policies that amount to state-sponsored child abuse. Two of the most extreme proponents of these policies are… https://t.co/GNcVGVeWrN
— Robert AJ Gagnon (@RobertAJGagnon1) August 12, 2024
The website includes testimonials of Harris’ positions and faith, saying she “grew up singing in the children’s choir at the 23rd Street Church of God in Oakland, California.”“ And a “lived faith” is a faith that is expressed through one’s life and especially through service to others, especially the weak and powerless.“
“Harris’ favorite Bible verse is, ‘We walk by faith, not by sight.’‘ (2 Corinthians 5:7) acknowledges that we don’t have all the answers, and that we don’t face life’s challenges alone. Our loving God is with us. “The God I’ve always believed in is a loving God.”‘ It is this God that Kamala trusts.“ That’s what it says on the website.
The coalition was announced days after another evangelical columnist and lawyer, David French, published an article in The New York Times. column He voted for Harris “partly to protect conservatism.”“ French argued that Trump and his supporters have “moved the Republican Party further and further away from Reaganite conservatism.”“ “And they have alienated Republican voters from a focus on the character of their leaders, all the while labeling those who resist change as ‘traitors.'”‘”
McKissick expressed his support for Harris on X (formerly Twitter).
“I firmly believe that life begins at conception and that innocent, unborn life should be protected in the womb.“ McKissick Writtenin part, in a statement. “I believe marriage should be defined as the union of one man and one woman in holy matrimony. By abandoning their previous commitments on these issues, the Republican Party has removed the obstacles and difficulties I have found in voting Democrat since 1984.”
If your conscience, beliefs, and preferences regarding abortion and same-sex marriage compel or require you to vote Republican primarily on the basis of these two issues… Now that the Republican Party has abandoned these two previously non-negotiable policy platforms under the Trump Administration…
— Dwight McKissic (@pastordmack) August 10, 2024
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Andrew Harnik/Staff
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
