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I am a conservative evangelical pastor who votes for Kamala Harris.

Posted on by L. Dreeye
I am a conservative evangelical pastor who votes for Kamala Harris.

It is widely believed in many circles that evangelical Christians—not to mention evangelical pastors like me—should vote Republican. The Republican Party, they believe, is the party that comes closest to our morals, our values, and our commitment to biblical principles. I have held this belief for the better part of 40 years. I have seen Democrats endorse, encourage, and elevate gay rights and same-sex marriage agendas, and protect and promote abortion rights. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was impeached for perjury after he had an adulterous affair while in office. None of the above aligns with my Christian values.

The Republican Party, they believe, is the party that comes closest to our morals, our values, and our commitment to biblical principles. I have held this belief for the better part of 40 years.

I supported Texas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, passed in 2005. I joined Governor Rick Perry on a tour of the state preaching the message “Are Gay Rights and Civil Rights Parallel?” My answer: it is not. When it comes to abortion, Republicans have always been staunchly pro-life. This was one of the pillars that the Republican Party included in its official party platform. That’s why voting Republican made sense to me.

So why then have I, the senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Arlington, Texas, voted for the Democratic President, Vice President Kamala Harris, for 41 years? As I wrote Wednesday on Channel X, I’m voting for character and competence, and for a candidate who “has the ability and capacity to demonstrate respect and high regard” for all created in the image of God. Republican Donald Trump does not have Harris’ character, competence or ability.

To be clear, my opinion on the issues mentioned above has not been swayed. I still believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and I defend life in the womb as passionately as ever. Democrats also have not changed their position on these two issues. But Republicans have changed. I don’t even recognize the Republican Party anymore. This year, for example, the GOP platform abandoned its longtime call for a national ban on abortion and removed language that said marriage is “between one man and one woman and is the foundation of a free society.”

The party I knew and loved would never have chosen the adulterous, childish, habitual liar and convicted felon Donald Trump as its candidate. Evangelical leaders rightly blamed Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and then his lies about it. It is astonishing to see how these same leaders ignore Trump’s multiple sex scandals and ignore the fact that he was convicted by a court of sexually assaulting a woman.

It is disgusting to see people who say they read and believe the same Bible. Not only do I refuse to condemn Trump, I support his candidacy.

For better or worse, I am a person who votes for my beliefs. Traditionally, I voted on social issues and left everything else in God’s hands. Since I am now a political party outcast on two major social issues that I have always used in my voting decisions, I am forced to change my voting criteria. I cannot vote for a party that supports my social beliefs. Because it’s neither one nor the other. Therefore, I must vote based on the character of the candidates. Harris enters.

As a pastor for over four decades, I have had to hire people for a variety of positions. Not just other ministers, but also CPAs, advisors, public relations professionals, contractors, engineers, lawyers, and even custodians. If Harris’ resume crossed my desk and I was able to interview her without knowing anything about her political views, I would hire her immediately. Why? Because on paper she represents a person of good character and someone who can be trusted. Unlike the adulterous, twice-divorced Trump, she is married to her first and only husband and has graciously accepted the role of mother to his children. The product of humble beginnings, she is a self-made woman. She was introduced to the church as a child and remained involved as an adult. She presents herself as a woman of integrity and leads with love. By this I mean that she has a gentle and welcoming spirit.

Oh, and she can pass a background check.

As we look to elect a leader for the next four years, I think it is vital that we choose someone worth following. An ABC News investigation in May 2020 found “at least 54 criminal cases in which Trump was directly linked to violent acts, threats of violence or assault allegations.” The individuals responsible for these actions were predominantly white men, and their victims were from a variety of minority groups. In that May 2020 report, ABC News said it “could not find a single criminal case brought in federal or state court in which an act of violence or threats was committed on behalf of President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush.”

But those 54 cases are nothing compared to what happened a few months later. January 6, 2021, when Trump spoke at the Ellipse and began what he insultingly calls a “day of love” at the U.S. Capitol. But we all saw January 6th for what it was: a day of chaos, violence and upheaval. No one can reasonably believe that President Harris (explicitly or implicitly) would incite his supporters to commit violence.

Despite everything we know about Trump—his multiple adulteries, his multiple felony convictions, his race-baiting, his violent rhetoric, his repeated lies, his in no way resembling Christ or His church—there are people who warn evangelicals from abandoning Trump. “the party of their faith” for a Democrat. In the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew there is a place where it says that a tree that does not bear good fruit should be cut down and thrown into the fire. This is exactly how I think evangelicals should view today’s Republican Party.

I feel it is my duty to command other evangelicals to vote as they please. But I think of my vote the same way I think of a hiring decision. And under no circumstances would I ever hire Donald Trump.