Well, here we are: the weekend before the 2024 election in the U.S., and perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that it is the most important election in the nation’s history since 1932—or maybe even since 1860. In this post, I am considering how “Christian values” will potentially impact the outcome.
What are Christian values? That is a pivotal question that must be considered first. The problem is that the answer depends on what kind of Christian seeks to answer that question.
Back in January 2019, I posted “Two Christianities?” In that blog article, I sadly concluded that the current differences between conservative evangelical Christianity and progressive/liberal Christianity are so great it is perhaps correct to say they are, indeed, largely two different Christianities.
With regards to the presidential election, those who endorse the first form of Christianity seem to think that the most important Christian values impel being anti-abortion (expressed as being pro-life) and anti-LGBTQ (with anti-trans sentiment currently being the strongest).
Because of email exchanges with Tom Lamkin, a Southern Baptist pastor friend in North Carolina (whom I baptized in 1959 when he was a boy in Kentucky), I started reading Gary Bauer, a far right-wing Christian (Southern Baptist) pundit.*
Bauer recently wrote that he is opposed to Harris because of her strong commitment to killing babies and mutilating children. And he repeatedly writes about the extensive “lies of the left” (see this 10/23 post).
In an email last week, Tom wrote, “I was with two pastors this morning and they will be voting for Trump. They seem to hear nothing Trump is saying except the condemnation of abortion and the gender chaos.” Perhaps they were not just reading but also agreeing with Bauer’s outrageous statements.
The other Christianity, which I affirm, sees the following among the primary Christian values to uphold regarding the election and at all times.
** Loving God and other people (the two greatest commandments according to Jesus, see Mark 12:28~31).
** Seeking the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness (=justice, see Matthew 6:33).
** Observing the Golden Rule (see Matthew 7:12)
** Having compassion for “the least of these” (see Matthew 25:40~45).
** Practicing creation care (see Psalm 24:1).
Much more could (and maybe should) be written about these values, but I think you get the point.
Are Christian values tied to White Christian Nationalism? I was a bit nonplussed by PRRI’s American Value Survey conducted mostly in August.** Registered voters were asked which presidential candidate they would vote for if the election were held right then.
Of those surveyed, 45% said they would vote for Harris and 40% for Trump. But 72% of those who identified as White evangelical Protestants, chose Trump. That was not unexpected, but I was quite surprised at the next two listings.
Only 34% of White Catholics chose Harris, and 55% said they would vote for Trump. Even more surprising/perplexing was that of White mainline/non-evangelical Protestants, only 36% were for Harris and 53% were for Trump.
By contrast, Hispanic Catholics chose Harris over Trump by 52% to 27%, and Black Protestants said they would vote for Harris overwhelmingly, 78% to 9%. (The percentages don’t add up to 100 as some were “not sure” and others were for a third-party candidate.)
This survey made me wonder if some/many White Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants don’t support Harris because she is a person of color and/or a woman. Many in the Christian Nationalism movement likely think the country ought to be governed by White Christian men.
If VP Harris loses the election, which I think is certainly possible although I remain confident that she will win the popular vote, it will be because of the votes of White Christians more than any other chosen demographic (that is, other than non-chosen demographics such as gender, race, or “class.”)
So, on this weekend before the election, I plead with those of you who are Christians (and haven’t voted yet) to consider well what the core Christian values really are and to vote accordingly.
_____
* Bauer (b. 1946) is also the president of American Values, a non-profit organization “committed to defending life, traditional marriage, and equipping our children with” conservative values. Some of you may remember that he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. president in 2000.
** PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of topics, specializing in the quantitative and qualitative study of political issues as they relate to religious values. Robert P. Jones established PRRI in 2009. He holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Emory U. and an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jones is the author of The End of White Christian America (2016) and White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (2020).
The View from This Seat (supplementary blog) 
I notice that 11% of White Catholics and White Protestant (not Evangelical) did not support either Trump or Harris. I am with them. There are huge flaws in both major parties. Here is something to think about on that: https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/11/a-no-win-dilemma-for-us-peace-voters.html
Craig Dempsey
Thanks for your comments, and your honesty, Craig. As to the percentage of voters in the PRRI date who did not choose either Harris or Trump, the majority were undecided and there were relatively few who choose a third party candidate.
I agree that there are huge flaws in both major parties. As was said on the link you sent, the election (as almost every other election except maybe for the presidential election of 1972) all U.S. elections are “a no-win dilemma for US peace voters.” This has long been a problem for Anabaptist Christians, and the reason why many in the past haven’t voted at all, and why a Mennonite scholar I admire has recently said he won’t be voting for either major candidate. He thinks that non-violence/pacifism is a clear teaching of Jesus and a core Christian value.
To a large extent, I agree with you and the Mennonite man I just referred to, but I am going to vote for Harris anyway. Even though my wife hates the expression, I think Kamala is clearly the “lesser of two evils.” But that is not insignificant. On a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the worst, I would have to say that perhaps Harris is a 2 and Trump is at least a 9. It seems to me that if both are “evil,” it is far better to have a president who is a 2 on the “evil” scale than a nine–and one of them will, definitely. be elected president.
Yesterday evening I received the following comments from a retired college professor whom I first met when she was enrolled in a class I taught at William Jewell College in 1976-77.
“Thank you for this thoughtful post. I have some hope that more younger conservative evangelicals are seeing the difference between Jesus and Trump. Are you familiar with the YouTube channel called The New Evangelicals.”
https://youtube.com/@thenewevangelicals?si=7iV8aqIOAJSb5it4
I appreciate this affirmative comment from my former student–and for her introducing a group I had not heard of. I have tried to keep up with the various movement in Christianity in general and evangelicals in particular, so I appreciate knowing now about this group of “new evangelicals.”
I remember the book “The Young Evangelicals: Revolution in Orthodox Theology” by Richard Quebedeaux. It was published in 1974 and I probably read it about the time she was in my class at WJC. I now need to listen more to this new group on YouTube, even though I still prefer to have important things in print.
Here are brief comments received last night from Dr. Glenn Hinson in Kentucky:
“I make the same plea, Leroy, and endorse your list of Christian values. I don’t know how anyone who endorses truly Christian values could vote for Trump. Thanks for making this plea.”
Here are comments from Jerry Jumper, D.O., a retired doctor in southwest Missouri.
“3 things I believe influence evangelical votes:
“1. Men should be in control.
“2. Pro-birth, no matter what.
“3. A bad man may be used by God (Pontius Pilate was told me as an example) to do God’s will.
“Evangelical church members have drunk the Kool-Aid. Lord, help us.”
Thanks for your comments, Jerry. I think that the three items you mentioned are certainly true. Concerning the third, I have usually heard the pagan king Cyrus mentioned, so I found it interesting that someone gave Pilate as an example.
Don Wilson, a retired Christian minister in Kansas City, share these pertinent comments:
“Thank you so much for your work on this. I think for those of us who identify as progressive Christians another issue that should be of deep concern are Trump’s choices of potential personnel for his administration. I think particularly of RFK being considered for responsibilities in health care; Elon Musk for some leadership in financial matters; Stephen Miller, for whatever position of authority he may be given. There are several others equally troubling, but just these three strike alarm in me as I view them all as embracing values so out of touch with Values embraced by most of us who align with progressive Christianity.
“In addition, there is the assault on women recently resulting in deaths owing to the outrageous abortion laws in Texas, Georgia, and elsewhere, which forbid physicians to practice their craft to save lives or face possible imprisonment. I also view with alarm the apparent ‘giving up on democracy’ which is implied in the values held by many who embrace White Christian Nationalism. I could go on, but all this to say that I share your concerns and so appreciate your diligence in putting forward these helpful, thought-provoking posts.”
Here are comments from Bob Southard, another retired Christian minister in Kansas City.
“I wish we would have verbalized much earlier the huge implications of deporting 2 or 20 million people. It is terrifying…each person would be grieving and so would every member of their families and their various communities. Who turns in suspected victims and what consequences come to those who don’t? We don’t seem to realize this would drastically change the whole culture of our country to a culture of violence. I wish we had more carefully contrasted this with shutting down the border because they are very different. We seem to lump them together as two little phrases that don’t really sink in. Also, we should have featured more graphically the idea of the military arresting political “enemies from within” as us! All this could make children in cages and January 6 look mild. Too little too late?
“Pray the American people will get in the voting booth with their moral compasses and their mature adult hats on and quietly make the polls look ridiculously wrong. May big business see through Trump’s billionaires’ machine. Christians on the left are most certainly holding too still. Christian followers on the right are being manipulated/conned/mesmerized by those who normalize lies, grab media attention by systematically pumping out dramatic lie after lie. Christian leaders on the right are a small minority and know they can’t be powerful without teaming up with Trump’s machine. Clearly, I am not the one to do the wordsmithing to make the razor-sharp zingers that wake people up. We need some prophets. Any suggestions?”
Thanks for your significant comments, Bob. There are many things I could write in response, but I will just answer your closing question briefly.
I think there are some powerful progressive Christian prophets (truth-tellers) doing good work and saying important things now. Foremost among those I am most familiar with are William Barber and Jim Wallis, both of whom you probably know well. I find it interesting that after decades of Christian service in other ways, both have become academics in prominent institutions.
In 2021, Wallis joined Georgetown University as the inaugural Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair in Faith and Justice. He also leads the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown. And early last year, Barber became a professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and the founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School.
Both of these outstanding men continue also to be social justice activists and influential “prophets” by what they say and write.
Sue Wright is a friend who lives here in Liberty, Mo. (where I live), and here are brief comments she sent very early this morning:
“Your sentiments and plea are mine too. I fear especially for those among us who need good government most.”
The following comments are from Rick Shiels, Ph.D., a political science professor emeritus in New York:
“I read your pre-election piece with interest on more than a few fronts. But I want to focus on 2, perhaps not the essence of what you were saying, but in any event ‘tickled my brain.’ One was, if I extrapolate rightly, that white Protestants (practicing, not nominal) were overall disposed to support what we lefties here refer to uncharitably as ‘The Beast’ or some such.
“The figure on White Catholics is not all that surprising– again assuming that we are talking about practicing Catholics and not just those saying ‘I’m Catholic’ but, say, don’t take communion or church life too seriously.
“That would leave the hope that Black Protestants and Catholics, plus Hispanics– Catholic or Protestant– would lean toward Harris is varying degrees. Agnostics or purely nominal Christians like myself I’d think make up a sizable part of the population and overall lean against Trump. Would you say I have this about right?
“This leads to my second interest: except for the large patches of NY State not urban, the downstate population and cities further north (Albany, Buffalo, etc.) will incline heavily away from Trump (and in fact in academic circles, especially) find his election unthinkable (or more bluntly, the man repulsive). No surprise there.
“I wonder if your feeling that Trump has a decent shot comes from living in a Missouri that could send a Josh Hawley to the Senate. I don’t refer, of course, to your own feelings but just the conservative nature of the state (though far less so than the Mississippi I grew up in from age 10 to 18).”
Thanks for your comments and questions, Rick. To respond to your last paragraph first, I pay considerable attention to what I consider the most reliable presidential polls and also to the results of the past two elections. As incredible as it seems to me, and in spite of my own wishes and feelings about what ought to be (especially if we lived in a country of well-informed voters), I think that Trump certainly has a “decent shot” especially in gaining the necessary electoral votes. And I don’t think my view is skewed because of living in Missouri that is almost 100% certain to vote decidedly for Trump. In that regard, I long had hopes that Lucas Kunce would be successful in his bid to gain Josh Hawley’s Senate seat (and last month June and I want to one of his rallies), but recent polls indicate that Hawley will be elected in spite of all the negative things the local Kansas City Star has written about him and their endorsement of Kunce.
Regarding the statistics from PRRI, I don’t think they make any distinction between nominal and practicing Christians but just accept how people self-identify. But as you see, White Christians of all kinds are far more supporting of Trump than Harris, and Kamala’s support (and I still think, her likely election) comes from those in all other demographics, which form the majority of the population now. I pains me as a White Christian, though, to think that if Trump ends up winning the election, it will be because of the votes of White Christians.
This afternoon I received the following comments from Eric Dollard in Chicago:
“Thanks, Leroy, for outlining the Two Christianities. There are some Christianities in-between, but your basic points are correct.
“I really cannot add much to what you have written except to say that the term ‘Christian nationalism’ strikes me as self-contradictory. I see no evidence in the New Testament for nationalism; Christianity is supposed to be an inclusive religion that embraces people of all nationalities and races. Racism seems to undergird much of the Christian Nationalist perspective.
“Let us hope for a good outcome to this election. If Trump wins, I will be ashamed to be an American, something I say with great sadness. That would be quite a turnaround as I was proud to be an American when Obama was elected.”
There have always been many “Christianities” and the contrast between liberal/conservative Christianities in the U.S. is a stark example. I don’t necessarily think there is a singular “true” Christianity, but each person/community forges a Christianity that reflects their values.
–KKS
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