Kamala Harris is the best choice for a more just United States

Although she does not have my full endorsement, Kamala Harris is still the best choice for U.S. President.

Followers of Jesus might feel politically homeless given the options in the upcoming election. It’s not in my purview as pastor to endorse political candidates in any election. Our participation in this election is not a matter of fidelity to one person, but an exercise in spiritual discernment. And let’s keep in mind that we need to hold onto our convictions and advocate for justice after the election, whatever the outcome.

What a pastor can ethically say is: we should not stay home. We should support the candidate most likely to alleviate suffering in the United States. That candidate is Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris, as Joe Biden’s vice president, carries the grave stain of complicity with the genocide in Gaza. She has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, which has been translated to mean supporting the mass slaughter and displacement of Palestinians. Kamala Harris needs to apply more pressure on Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. She needs to leverage the extensive power of the United States to end the war and negotiate a ceasefire. Netanyahu is already expanding the war, and the Biden/Harris administration is signing the checks to make that happen. But I will get to the fact that her opponent would be much worse for Gaza in a moment.

Harris has also shifted some of the policy positions she campaigned on in 2020. She no longer supports banning fracking, she opposes a single-payer health care system, and she now thinks immigrants who cross the border unlawfully should be criminally charged (a shift from her 2019 statement that their charges should be reduced to civil ones). Of course, the far-right in the United States continues to lampoon her as a far-left socialist who favors totally open borders. Her shift to a more moderate politics may or may not gain her the votes of people outside the party. We need a president who is serious about climate change, champions universal healthcare, and maximizes the rights of migrants.

All of these things might give Christians a moral pause at either endorsing her or voting for her. What’s more, regardless of who wins the election, these issues should motivate our action after. But because she is not perfect, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t vote for her. The Biden-Harris administration has also reduced inflation better than any leader of any other country, passed bills that improved the economy and provided jobs, expanded health care, and reduced and canceled student debt. Voting is an exercise in practical discernment, it is not an expression of devotion. It’s not a love letter.

Now I get to my crucial point: the alternative. Donald Trump has put himself and his own interests above the country’s. His character is brazenly awful. He takes no responsibility for the harm he causes and mocks his opponents. More than that, he faces many criminal charges, in addition to being convicted of 34 felony counts. He called the insurrection he incited a “day of love.”

On every single issue I mentioned above where Harris must improve, Donald Trump is far worse. He has promised to use more force in Gaza (arguing to “get it over fast”), and Netanhayu considers Trump the best friend Israel has ever had. He has threatened to arrest protesters. He said that he doesn’t think “science knows” if climate change is real. He spreads racist lies about migrants and promises to engage in massive deportations. Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and asked about his health care plan, he merely offered that he has “concepts” of one. 

For Christians who feel they can turn a blind eye to the blood-and-soil Christian nationalism proposed by Trump and Vance because of their concern about abortion, bear in mind that Trump’s policy positions on abortion have dramatically shifted like a house built on a sandy foundation. More than that, Democratic policies have effectively reduced abortions. Restrictive abortion laws don’t end abortions, they just make it harder to get safe ones.

Finally, Project 2025—as mapped out by Trump’s MAGA team—is a grave threat to democracy. It dramatically increases presidential authority, further polices the border, slashes funding and research for climate change, and proposes changes that would burden both women and queer people in particular. The Heritage Foundation’s plan is so extreme, that Trump has denied even knowing what’s in it—even though its authors are his close associates.

All of these things showcase to us that we are not merely choosing between candidates. We aren’t merely voting. What is at stake is much more foundational than that. We shouldn’t put our hope in nation-states as Christians, but we should not act like non-participation is a suitable solution when we face potential existential consequences to our democracy and the advent of fascism, which Trump will usher in.

Our decision must be pragmatically rooted in the candidate we think is promising to act more morally than the other and the one we can convince to act more morally than the other. Given that, the choice is clearly Harris.

 We will continue to face grave injustices after the election, just as before, and we need to continue to speak out, advocate, and act to create a more just society to alleviate human suffering and advance the dignity of all. Staying home then is not a good option for followers of Jesus. We need to make the best choice we can, and this year, it is quite apparent.