Paul Chappell: How to Best Love Your Neighbor with Your Vote This Election

[RSS Robot]

Over the past several days, I’ve been seeing in my social media streams the promotion of a group, “Evangelicals for Harris.” The group proposes that people should vote for the Harris-Walz presidential ticket in order to be “a Matthew 25 witness of love of neighbor.”

I understand Christians having concerns over Donald Trump and the moral weakening of the RNC. I understand them wishing we had a candidate who led with humility and a political party that stood for truth rather than attempting to gain support by weakening its positions. I understand Christians believing they should take into account how political policies affect those in poverty or who are otherwise marginalized.

But I wonder why those who call themselves born-again Christians would actively support a presidential candidate who stands absolutely opposed to the biblical position on clearly-significant moral issues.

The Key Moral Issues

For my entire adult life I have voted along the lines of which candidate holds the closest position to a biblical one on three major issues: life, Israel, and the biblical family.

1. Life: Every unborn child is a person created by God who deserves the opportunity to live out his God-given purpose. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

2. Israel: In the early pages of Scripture, God promised a special blessing to nations who support Israel and a definite curse to those who harm her. Genesis 12:3 says, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

3. The Family: From creation, God built the home as the foundation of society (Genesis 1:27, 2:24; Ephesians 5:22–25, 6:1). Any politician who attempts to redefine the biblical foundation of a home and marriage is, in fact, chipping away at the bedrock of society.

In recent months, I have been disappointed to see the RNC weakening on some of these issues—particularly the sanctity of life and the traditional family. I’m under no illusion that the RNC is a “righteous” political party.

But in spite of those disappointments, of the two available candidates and party platforms, I think it’s clear which one is most likely to form legislation, support policies, and select Supreme Court justices that at least uphold these three issues versus the one that that stands in opposition to these biblical positions.

Consider where Harris, in particular, stands on each:

1. Life: At the DNC national convention Chicago this past week, there was not just support for abortion, but there were on-demand abortions being provided and celebrated. They literally invited Planned Parenthood to come and perform free vasectomies and medical abortions in a van on the parking lot.^[1]

Kamala stands opposed to any restrictions on abortion and has made “reproductive rights—and abortion specifically—a focus of her campaign.”^[2] According to Time, “As a Senator, she co-sponsored legislation that would ban states from imposing restrictions on abortion rights, and voted against a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.”^[3] Additionally, Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, supported a bill in Minnesota that legalizes life-saving medical care to infants born alive after botched abortions.^[4]

Harris has also aggressively tried to silence those who oppose abortion. As the Attorney General of California, when an independent journalist documented Planned Parenthood selling organs and body parts of aborted babies, rather than opening an investigation into Planned Parenthood, Kamala went after the journalist—sending agents to raid his home.^[5]There are clearly concerns here for the future of religious liberty.

2. Israel: And what of Harris’ position on Israel? The Time article quoted above explains: “Harris appears more willing to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the high death toll in Gaza.…Around 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, while at least 38,000 Palestinians have been killed since then…Aaron David Miller, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told NBC News…‘When it comes to Israel, she has very moderate views…To the left of what Biden is prepared to do….’”^[6]

I don’t think we really want a president who determines which side the US will support based on the death toll rather than the moral merits of terrorism versus defense. And, in light of Genesis 12:3, we don’t want a president who is going to side against Israel.

3. The Family: In years past, I thought of family issues in relation to the biblical definition of marriage (one man, one woman, committing to one another for life). And on this point, Harris definitely has a differing agenda. For example, as the district attorney of San Francisco, she spent Valentine’s Day of 2004 officiating same-sex marriages.^[7]

But the attack on the home is larger now than just marriage. It is also specifically aimed at gender distinctions and at parents’ rights and responsibilities to help their children. Here, the LGBTQ activists work both ends. First, they confuse vulnerable children through indoctrination in school, entertainment, online recruitment, etc. Then, they hide the children’s confusion from the people best-suited to help them—their parents. If that doesn’t work, the activists insist that if parents don’t support their child in chemical castration or surgery to “change” their gender, the parents are unfit.

Harris supports the agenda just described. Just last month, speaking to the issue of performing gender-mutilating surgeries on minors, the Biden-Harris administration stated, “we oppose attempts to limit healthcare for transgender individuals in the courts or through legislation.”^[8]

Harris also supports changing Title IX to a new rule that would change the meaning of “sex” to include “gender identity.” This would effectively end any school’s ability to differentiate on gender in any meaningful way—including in sports. Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Jonathan Scruggs explained the seriousness of this: “The Biden-Harris administration’s radical redefinition of sex turns back the clock on equal opportunity for women, undermines fairness, and threatens student safety and privacy.”^[9]

No wonder that LGBTQ groups were nearly immediate in their endorsement of Harris after her candidacy was announced.

Why Love for God Must Inform Our Love of Neighbor

The “Evangelicals for Harris” website suggests that people should vote for Harris to be “a Matthew 25 witness of love of neighbor.”[10]

“Love your neighbor” verbiage can be stretched to mean anything a person wants, so long as they get to define what is best for one’s neighbor. But the Bible doesn’t leave these definitions up to our discretion. In context, when Jesus used the phrase “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” it wasn’t a loose statement, open to personal definitions on the best way to love one’s neighbor. Jesus used it as part of a two-fold statement that summarized the Old Testament Law:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37–40)

We will only know how to love our neighbors when we prioritize a love for God and His commands. It is the Word of God that teaches us what is best for our neighbors and how to best love them.

In fact, it is profoundly unloving to take unbiblical positions on moral issues.

• It is unloving to encourage a woman to have an abortion. It not only takes the life of her child, but it deeply wounds her.
• It is unloving to stand with terrorists against Israel.
• It is unloving to tell children that they can change their gender rather than to help them accept the good and beautiful plan God has for their lives. It is unloving to create division between parents and their children and to propagate confusion on gender and sexuality.

There is something about the evangelical support for Kamala Harris that, considering the disastrous results of her policies and lack of political success, feels more like virtue signaling than a sincere vote of confidence.

But a vote is not a good way to virtue signal. The reality is that the candidate we vote for may be the one who gets elected.

What if professing evangelical Christians, under the banner of loving their neighbors, actually vote in a candidate who further pushes the barbarism of abortion, takes children from the homes of godly and loving parents, represses religious liberty, and opens the floodgates to those who would “call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20)?

Ultimately, I would never encourage a Christian to go against their conscience—in a vote or any other matter. And if your conscience does not allow you to vote for Donald Trump, that is a matter of Christian liberty. (Personally, I don’t struggle with this decision because I believe a vote is a choice between two options and platforms—not a personal endorsement.)

Yes, sometimes we vote for the lesser of two evils. But voting for a political office is certainly not the same as voting for a pastor at a church.

In any case, I urge you, don’t vote for popularity or the veneer of “niceness.” Vote based on the explicitly-stated moral issues of God’s Word.

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^[1] Jesse O’Neill, “Planned Parenthood Offers Free Vasectomies, Abortions in Truck Outside DNC,” New York Post, August 19, 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/08/19/us-news/planned-parenthood-offers-free-vasectomies-abortions-in-truck-outside-dnc/.

^[2] “Kamala Harris’ Views on Abortion, Economy, Education, and Criminal Justice,” The 19th, August 2024, https://19thnews.org/2024/08/kamala-harris-views-abortion-economy-education-criminal-justice/.

^[3] Nik Popli, “Kamala Harris’ Views on Abortion, Economy, Immigration, and Israel-Gaza,” Time, August 2024, https://time.com/7001208/kamala-harris-views-abortion-economy-immigration-israel-gaza/.

^[4] “Minnesota Legislature Repeals Protection for Born-Alive Infants; Support for Pregnant Women,” Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), August 2024, https://www.mccl.org/post/minnesota-legislature-repeals-protection-for-born-alive-infants-support-for-pregnant-women/.

^[5] David Siders, “Anti-Abortion Groups Call for Kamala Harris’ Resignation Over David Daleiden Case,” Politico, April 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/anti-abortion-groups-kamala-harris-resign-david-daleiden-221681/.

^[6] Nik Popli, “Kamala Harris’ Views on Abortion, Economy, Immigration, and Israel-Gaza,” Time, August 2024, https://time.com/7001208/kamala-harris-views-abortion-economy-immigration-israel-gaza/.

^[7] Kate Sosin, “Kamala Harris’ Complicated Relationship with LGBTQ+ Community,” The 19th, August 2020, https://19thnews.org/2020/08/kamala-harris-complicated-lgbtq-choice/.

^[8] Adam Gabbatt, “Biden Administration and Transgender Surgeries for Minors: The Policy Battle,” The Guardian, July 17, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/17/biden-administration-transgender-surgeries-minors/.

^[9] “Cardona v. State of Tennessee,” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), accessed August 2024, https://adfmedia.org/case/cardona-v-state-tennessee/.

^[10] “Evangelicals for Harris Call,” Evangelicals for Harris, accessed August 2024, https://www.evangelicalsforharris.com/evangelicals-for-harris-call/.

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[TheGloryLand]

As years go by the Republican party is turning more to the centered or moderate. If the Lord doesn’t return soon, the Republican party will also support gay marriage and a type of abortion. Clearly, this will be done only to gain more votes. What America needs is a strong, independent leader, a Christian man, educated and sincere. But I don’t see this for the independent party politicians are more atheist towards the faith. I believe it’s biblical to say that the Bible mentions that all these things must happen. For the hearts will turn wax cold to the truth and the faith. Water down religions that please the hearts will prosper.

Edited August 22 by TheGloryLand

[BrotherTony]

22 minutes ago, TheGloryLand said:

As years go by the Republican party is turning more to the centered or moderate. If the Lord doesn’t return soon, the Republican party will also support gay marriage and a type of abortion. Clearly, this will be done only to gain more votes. What America needs is a strong, independent leader, a Christian man, educated and sincere. But I don’t see this for the independent party politicians are more atheist towards the faith. I believe it’s biblical to say that the Bible mentions that all these things must happen. For the hearts will turn wax cold to the truth and the faith. Water down religions that please the hearts will prosper.

The Republican party was "center right" when I first voted in the general election of 1980. By 1986 the party had left the centrist position and had started it's leftward leaning and my wife and I became Independents. At one time Ross Perot seemed to be gaining enough momentum to become POTUS, but he cracked under the pressures of campaigning and running his business affairs, and we had to end up voting for the center left leaning George Herbert Walker Bush.

Many Republicans already support abortion, gay marriage, and a majority of the LGBTQ+ platform. Republicans and Democrats are nothing more than opposite sides of the same coin.