Vice President Kamala Harris addressing the congregation of the 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland on their 80th anniversary. Image: Instagram video capture
Vice President Kamala Harris addressing the congregation of the 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland on their 80th anniversary. Image: Instagram video capture
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Kamala Harris has a living, active spirituality that speaks for itself in its joy for living, its work for justice, and its love for neighbor.
Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t sell Bibles with her name on them—because she’s actually read the Bible.
She doesn’t put on religion like a strange, ill-fitting costume for awkward, once-in-a-campaign photo ops, because her spirituality is embedded into the very marrow of who she is, undergirding her daily humanity.
She doesn’t need to continually and loudly broadcast her personal faith through a megaphone, because she knows that we are known by the tangible fruits of our everyday lives, that the mouth declares what the heart is filled with.
Kamala Harris has a living, active spirituality that speaks for itself in its joy for living, its work for justice, and its love for neighbor.
In 2022, the Vice President delivered a stirring, heartfelt message to the National Baptist Convention, where she shared her personal spiritual journey, and the ways the best of religion should be evident in the way we treat people.
So, as many of you know, I was born in Oakland, California. And I actually grew up attending 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland. And there I learned, as so many of us did, I learned in the Bible of the many teachings about the ever-present tension between darkness and light. And I learned, in those moments, how important it is to recognize the power of faith.
Through the darkness, our faith reminds us that we are not alone. Faith teaches us that a brighter future is always ahead and we must keep moving forward to realize that future. And to move forward, simply put, I also learned and we all know: Faith requires action.
For the Vice President, that faith in action was embodied by her parents pushing her in a stroller in civil rights marches. And for her, it was embodied in her running to become the first Black woman to be elected District Attorney of San Francisco, and to become the first Black woman to be elected Attorney General of California.
And that belief in living as light to drive out darkness, propelled her to become the second black woman in US history to join the US Senate and the first female Vice President.
Harris spoke to those gathered in 2022, about the the interdependence of all human beings and the ways we work together for the common good:
As Black people in our nation battled racist laws and ideologies, men and women of the cloth were the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in America. And they, then, following the teachings of Christ, built coalitions of people of all faiths and races and walks of life, because they understood and knew the importance of the collective.
They did not declare, “I shall overcome.” No, they said, “We shall overcome.”
Many professed Christians have said that the issue of abortion aligns them with Harris’ opponent, though she speaks directly to the compatibility of being Christian and pro-choice, as free-will is the heart of what God provides each human being.
As extremists work to take away the freedom of women to make decisions about their own bodies, faith leaders are taking a stand, knowing one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held religious beliefs to agree that a woman should have the ability to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do. And she will choose, in consultation with her pastor or her priest, or a doctor and her loved ones. But the government should not be making that decision.
In this moment, let us heed the words of First Corinthians: “Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything in love.”
And the Vice President described the way her commitment to loving her neighbor fortifies and directs her public work to make sure all people have healthcare, all have the opportunity to live free and unfettered, all are afforded the human and civil rights they deserve, and all live free from gun violence.
And this past weekend at a church service at Koinonia Christian Center in Greenville, North Carolina, the Vice President reminded us that in times of tragedy, religion should help us transcend political tribalism, not reinforce it; it should yield a pulling-together, not a tearing-apart.
And these hurricanes have revealed heroes around all of us. Heroes who do not ask the injured or stranded whether they are a Republican or a Democrat, But you simply ask, “are you okay?” Who ask, “what can I do to help?” Heroes, who as I like to say, see in the face of a stranger, a neighbor.
She closed with a challenge for each of us:
(The Apostle) Paul reminds us that God calls us not to become weary of doing good. Because we each have the power. God tells us this. The power each one of us to make a difference. And that tells us that the measure of our strength will be clear when we see what we can do to lift other people up. Just as the heroes and the angels in this church and all over are doing after these storms across North Carolina, Florida, and impacted communities, we are witnessing faith in action. Yes. So I close with this.
Let us continue to look in the face of a stranger and see a neighbor.
As Kamala Harris’ opponent readies Project 2025, a terrifying and detailed plan for oppressive, government-mandated religion, I believe the people of this country, those who claim faith and those who do not, believe in choosing for themselves.
I believe they want a leader who is driven by compassion and not cruelty, one whose values are rooted in hope and not fear, whose moral convictions yield inclusion and not separation, and one who doesn’t need to tell the world how loving they are—but who simply and eloquently lives love.
It’s time for that embodied love for its neighbor to have the loudest word.
Connect with faith-based groups supporting the Harris-Walz campaign:
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. A 25-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. When not actively working for a more compassionate planet, John enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, cooking, and having time in nature. He is the author of A Bigger Table, Hope and Other Superpowers, Low, and Stuff That Needs to Be Said.
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