Home Christian News Kamala Harris’ Sunday Morning Address Draws Comparisons to Mike Pence’s SBC Speech

Kamala Harris’ Sunday Morning Address Draws Comparisons to Mike Pence’s SBC Speech

Kamala Harris
At the 2019 Iowa Democrats Hall of Fame Celebration in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lorie Shaull from St Paul, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A video of Vice President Kamala Harris promoting Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D) will be broadcast in more than 300 Black churches from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2. While the video troubles many ministry leaders, some church leaders of color are cautioning white evangelicals against ignoring a potential plank in their own eyes.

“Make no mistake about it,” said Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. “I’m not a fan of partisan politics advocated from the pulpit, period. However, this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. There’s literally no difference between VP Mike Pence addressing the SBC, & VP Harris speaking to 300 churches.”

McKissic was referring to the fact that former vice president Mike Pence spoke at the 2018 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he spent a great deal of his speech campaigning for former president Donald Trump

“I don’t support Politicians being in the pulpit, especially on the Lord’s Day,” said preacher Kyle J. Howard. “But the audacity of white evangelicals to criticize as if their tradition’s history hasn’t been political idolatry & filling their own pulpits with politicians not to advance justice but oppression.”

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Kamala Harris Urges Churchgoers to Vote for McAuliffe

Democrat Terry McAuliffe is running for governor of Virginia against Republican Glenn Youngkin and is reportedly putting forth a great deal of effort to counter apathy in his base. One of McAuliffe’s strategies is having the vice president campaign for him. Another is targeting “Souls to the Polls,” a national movement that has grown out of Black churches in which congregations caravan to polling locations to vote immediately following a Sunday service. This is the first year that Virginians will be able to vote on Sundays.

Kamala Harris begins her video by mentioning her experience in church as a child and saying that we have a “sacred responsibility to raise our voice.” 

“I believe that my friend, Terry McAuliffe, is the leader Virginia needs at this moment,” said Harris, going on to list McAuliffe’s accomplishments during his former term as governor. “Virginians, you deserve a leader who has a vision of what is possible and the experience to realize that vision.

Harris encourages Virginian churchgoers to vote for McAuliffe after Sunday service and also explains how to join McAuliffe’s campaign. She concludes, “Thank you, may God bless you, and may God bless America.” 

Other Church Leaders Weigh in on Kamala Harris Video

“This is a bad idea,” tweeted Ed Stetzer, editor-in-chief of Outreach Magazine and executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. “It was bad when the Republicans did it, and it is bad when the Democrats do it. When you mix politics and religion, you get politics.”