In a nation where people have the right to worship – or not worship – as their souls dictate, a presidential candidate’s relationship with God shouldn’t be open to public scrutiny. But it is. Less than three months from now, Americans will hold an election in which faith matters. It matters a great deal. So, let’s look at the faith of one candidate for president. Let’s look at Kamala’s faith.
A Melting Pot
America has been called a melting pot, and Vice President Kamala Harris’s family is an excellent representation of what the term means. She’s the daughter of a Jamaican-American father and a mother who was born in southern India, according to People. Her husband is Jewish, and she’s the stepmother of two adult children whose affectionate name for her is “Momala.”
Kamala’s parents met in 1962 at the University of California-Berkeley where their mutual interest and involvement in civil rights drew them together. They married and settled in the Midwest after graduating.
“It’s the old story,” her mother once said. “I fell in love with a guy, we got married, pretty soon kids came.” The vice president has said her parents “fell in love in that most American way – while marching together for justice in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s,” People said.
Her parents’ fight for civil rights also introduced the young Kamala to an important lesson about faith. “Marching for civil rights, my parents pushed me in a stroller,” she said. “That was faith in action.”
“Faith Is a Verb”
Donald and Shyamala Gopalan Harris divorced in 1972, and Shyamala moved with her two young daughters to northern California. It was there that Kamala’s faith blossomed.
“On Sundays, my mother would dress my sister, Maya, and me in our Sunday best and send us off to the 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland, California, where Maya and I sang in the children’s choir,” she recalled.
“That’s where I formed some of my earliest memories of the Bible’s teachings. It’s where I learned that ‘faith’ is a verb and that we must live it, and show it, in actions,” she said.
An organization called Evangelicals for Harris noted that “this was where she learned to have a living faith, one that expresses itself through one’s life, especially through service to others, particularly the vulnerable and powerless.”
“I’ve learned that faith is not only something we express in church and prayerful reflection, but also in the way we live our lives, do our work, and pursue our respective callings,” Kamala Harris has said.
Love Thy Neighbor
The vice president learned another valuable life lesson in church. She came to understand that neighbors aren’t always people “who live in our ZIP code.” They include strangers and even supposed enemies, as Christ’s story of the Good Samaritan clearly illustrates.
The world’s greatest immigrant — Jesus Christ — drove home His point about “loving thy neighbor” by using a Jew and a Samaritan in His parable. The Israelites and Samaritans had long despised one another. Yet, a Samaritan stopped to help a badly injured Jew who had been beaten by thieves and left by the road to die.
Once the Samaritan treated the wounds, he took the man to an inn to recover. He also gave the innkeeper money for the bill and said, “Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here” (Luke 10:30-37 NLT).
The Good Samaritan was a valuable lesson for Kamala, as it should be for the American nation she hopes to lead – a nation that has done a great deal of good in the world but has never fully overcome the hatred that some of its citizens harbor for people they see as “different.”
A Place to Draw Strength
“I can trace my belief in the importance of public service to learning the parable of the Good Samaritan and other biblical teachings about looking out for our neighbors,” Kamala recently told the Religion News Service.
“Ever since I was a girl, church has not only been a place where I draw strength, it’s been a place for reflection, a place to study the teachings of the Lord and to feel grounded in a complex world. Church still plays that role for me.” It also gives her a sense of community and belonging where she can build lasting relationships.
Respect for Other Faiths
While Kamala’s faith is deeply Christian, she feels a great respect for other religious traditions, according to Evangelicals for Harris. Kamala became familiar with Hinduism through her mother Shyamala Gopalan, who took her to visit Hindu temples on visits to India. And Kamala participates in Jewish traditions and celebrations with her husband, Doug Emhoff, the organization said.
“This respect syncs with her Baptist tradition, which has a long and distinguished legacy of support and activism for religious liberty and the separation of Church and State,” Evangelicals for Harris said.
Kamala talks about her faith this way: “Like many people of faith, I have private conversations with God where I usually ask for the strength and protection to make good decisions and do the right thing.
“The God I have always believed in is a loving God,” Kamala said. And she knows He is with her as she faces life’s challenges.
Kamala’s Faith
Kamala’s faith has left a strong impression on people who know the vice president.
“The vice president has a strong Christian faith that she’s talked about a lot….” her former communications director – and pastor’s son – Jamal Simmons said.
“She was raised in a Christian church and attended Christian churches throughout her life. I think that still influences her, her worldview and her ethical commitments.”
Longtime friend, the Rev. Freddie D. Haynes III of Dallas, noted, “She has always understood that Jesus and justice go together. So, it’s not hard to see why she chose a church (Third Baptist in San Francisco) that has that kind of justice DNA.”
“Through the years, Haynes and Harris connected over their shared faith,” AP reported shortly after Kamala became the Democrats’ unofficial nominee for president.
“Haynes said she admired his ability to blend Black Christian theology in the pulpit with the cadence and rhythm of hip-hop. It was Kamala’s commitment to serving the most vulnerable that impressed him.”
Haynes explained that Kamala’s faith and spirituality have been “informed by a sense of justice for those who are othered, disadvantaged, and treated as second-class citizens.”
Joshua DuBois, former head of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships during the Obama administration, believes that faith grounds presidents.
“When you know the world is going mad, how do you connect to something larger than yourself?
“Faith can help you with prioritization,” DuBois added. “Often times you can only focus on one thing as president and you face the question: Who needs you the most? I think that is certainly how Jesus walked. That’s how Gandhi walked.”
“I think that presidents are grounded in their faith and inspired by their faith in numerous ways,” DuBois said. “It’s a wellspring….”
We cannot see into the soul of another person. We can only hear their words and see their actions. Sometimes, that’s enough.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In