OPINION:
“I want you to pray for me.”
That’s the request Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly made of her pastor, the Rev. Amos C. Brown, this month as she prepared to toss her hat into the 2024 presidential ring.
Mr. Brown told Sojourners Ms. Harris phoned him to seek prayer for her husband, Doug Emhoff, for America and her presidential aspirations.
But while Ms. Harris is receiving a great deal of attention over her Baptist faith — including her request for invocation — others are lamenting what they see as past “religious bigotry,” including legislative behavior that has some Christians on edge.
Just take what CatholicVote President Brian Burch said in a recent statement, proclaiming, “Kamala Harris hates what we believe.” And he wasn’t done there. He added his view that Ms. Harris “believes that all faithful Catholics should be disqualified from serving as federal judges.”
This might seem like a baseless assertion, though an interaction Ms. Harris had with a judicial nominee, at the least, raised some eyebrows and constitutional concerns surrounding religious litmus tests.
The scenario Mr. Burch is referencing dates to 2018 when federal judiciary nominee Brian Buescher’s membership in the Knights of Columbus — a well-known, charitable Catholic group — somehow drew the ire of Democrats, such as Ms. Harris.
At the time, Ms. Harris posed a series of queries in a written questionnaire, including: “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?” “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization?” and “Have you ever, in any way, assisted with or contributed to advocacy against women’s reproductive rights?”
Not only are 41% of Americans pro-life, and the majority favor at least some restrictions on abortion, but these questions also seemed to be a religious test of sorts — an assessment of religious beliefs that could somehow preclude someone such as Judge Buescher from serving as a judge.
Meanwhile, Article VI, Section 3 of the Constitution reads: “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Judge Buescher was confirmed, but the situation rightfully remains on critics’ minds.
A second reason some Christians fear Ms. Harris’ political ascension surrounds abortion. While Americans currently have complex views on the procedure — particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade — one fact is undeniable: Ms. Harris is, without a doubt, the most radical, pro-abortion prospective presidential candidate in history.
“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not tell a woman what to do with her body,” she wrote on X last year to the horror of many religious Americans who believe it’s immoral — even murderous — to kill the unborn.
And if that weren’t enough, Ms. Harris bombastically toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic in March in an effort to elevate its work, becoming the first vice president to do so.
“I’m here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like, which is to understand that it is only right and fair that people have access to the health care they need,” Ms. Harris said. “And that they have access to an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Add to that the fact that Ms. Harris has made abortion a centerpiece of her campaign, launching a “Fight for Reproductive Freedom Week of Action” to again promote abortion on demand.
This general obsession with progressive social issues seems to be raising eyebrows among Christian groups and the faithful more broadly, especially when comparing the amount of time she’s devoting to these causes at the expense of other important issues.
For instance, Ms. Harris has faced intense criticism over immigration and the Biden administration’s inability to properly handle the issue. Consider that the vice president — whom some media outlets previously dubbed the “border czar” — has made just as many trips to abortion clinics and the set of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as she has the border.
A fourth reason some Christians are worried about a potential Harris administration centers on the vice president’s quest to push the Do No Harm Act. She introduced the bill — which has long been seen by critics as an attempt to erode religious liberty — when she was a U.S. senator in 2018 and 2019.
While the American Civil Liberties Union said in the past that Ms. Harris’ version would “prevent the use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to evade compliance with federal civil rights, labor, child welfare, and health care laws,” others took a far different view.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s policy arm, stated that the Do No Harm Act would limit the RFRA’s applicability to anti-discrimination legislation.
In a world where Christian bakers were shockingly fined $135,000 for declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, eroding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act seems dangerous. But it becomes even more consequential when considering claims that the bill, as law, would have forced Christian doctors to perform abortions or dole out disputed treatments.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said this was just one of Ms. Harris’ “attempts to curtail religious liberty protections.”
There are certainly other reasons various Christian groups are concerned about Ms. Harris, though there is some encouragement: she’s reportedly looking for prayer. And regardless of where you stand ideologically, if you’re a professed Christian, you’re called to seek God on behalf of our leaders, regardless of party affiliation or ideology.
So, let’s all take a few moments this week to pray for Ms. Harris, President Biden, former President Donald Trump and all of our politicians and leaders — that they would have the clarity that allows them to see the truth on the aforementioned issues and act accordingly.
• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” He is the author of four books.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.