{"id":2337060,"date":"2024-09-05T07:45:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T11:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-age-slogans-social-justice-activism-sum-up-harris-religion\/"},"modified":"2024-09-05T07:55:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T11:55:29","slug":"new-age-slogans-social-justice-activism-sum-up-harris-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-age-slogans-social-justice-activism-sum-up-harris-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"New Age Slogans, Social Justice Activism Sum Up Harris&#8217; Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-age-slogans-social-justice-activism-sum-up-harris-religion%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2337060&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article explores the complex religious \u200dbeliefs of Kamala Harris, highlighting how\u200d her \u2064faith intertwines with her political identity. Kamala Harris comes\u200d from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-k-12-antisemitism-prompts-pro-bono-legal-helpline-kill-the-jews\/\" title=\"California K-12 anti-Semitism sparks free legal helpline: &#039;Eliminate Jews\">diverse religious background<\/a>; her mother was a Hindu who converted to Christianity \u2062after marrying\u200b her father, a Jamaican \u2063American. While raised in\u200c a\u2062 Baptist church,\u200c Harris acknowledges the influence of both her Hindu heritage and Christian teachings on her values, particularly her commitment to \u2064social justice and \u200dpublic service.<\/p>\n<p>Harris \u2062currently \u200cattends the Third Baptist\u200d Church of San Francisco, \u2063where she emphasizes \u2064the importance of community \u2063and belonging within her faith. The article\u2064 notes that her\u200d religious outlook\u200d is syncretistic, combining elements of\u2064 Christianity, Hinduism, and her\u2062 family&#8217;s experiences, particularly her grandfather&#8217;s involvement in India&#8217;s freedom struggle.<\/p>\n<p>The piece argues that Harris&#8217;s pluralistic faith symbolizes a broader, multicultural America \u200band appeals \u200cto the left\u2019s agenda related \u200cto \u2063identity politics\u200c and social justice. Her ability\u2063 to navigate various religious \u2062traditions\u200c is interpreted as a reflection of modern, post-Christian America. Ultimately, the article suggests \u2064that Harris represents a religiously influenced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-gives-pardons-to-73-individuals-and-commutes-another-70-sentences-steve-bannon-is-included\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump Gives Pardons to 73 Individuals and Commutes Another 70 Sentences \u2013 Steve Bannon Is Included\">political project<\/a> that aligns more with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-virtue-signaling-corporations-trying-to-prove-their-wokeness\/\" title=\"5 Virtue Signaling Corporations Trying To Prove Their \u2018Wokeness\u2019\">social justice issues<\/a> than \u200dwith\u200d traditional\u200c doctrinal beliefs, framing her as a figure of the left&#8217;s\u2062 identitarian agenda.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>What does Kamala Harris believe, and why does she believe it? It&rsquo;s a harder question to answer than one might think for someone who has been in national-level politics for almost a decade, and state politics for almost fifteen years before that. A survey of Harris&rsquo; historic comments on her religious beliefs &mdash; and what her supporters say about them &mdash; suggests that what matters is less the <em>substance <\/em>of her faith but its <em>symbolism<\/em> (and, perhaps more cynically, its alignment with the Democrat Party platform).<\/p>\n<h2>What Does Harris Believe?<\/h2>\n<p>Harris comes from a religiously diverse family background: her mother, a native of Tamil Nadu in southern India, was a Hindu until she met her future husband, Jamaican American Donald J. Harris, after which she converted to his Christianity. Nevertheless, <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2024\/08\/01\/indian-and-black-hindu-and-baptist-the-multiplicities-of-kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Religion News Service (RNS) tells us<\/a>, Harris&rsquo; mother &ldquo;instilled in her two daughters a reverence for Hindu temples.&rdquo; Moreover, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/asian-america\/lotus-potus-kamala-harris-indian-voters-rcna164323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corporate media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/24\/world\/asia\/kamala-harris-india.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">never tire<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/08\/17\/politics\/indian-americans-kamala-harris-election-cec\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reminding us<\/a>,&nbsp;the name Kamala means &ldquo;lotus&rdquo; in Sanskrit and has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2024\/08\/19\/kamala-harris-religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">special significance in Hinduism<\/a>, as it is &ldquo;closely associated with Sri-Lakshmi: the goddess of sovereignty, auspiciousness, fecundity, wealth and good fortune.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Raised in a Baptist church, <a href=\"https:\/\/sojo.net\/articles\/meet-vice-president-kamala-harris-pastor-civil-rights-leader-amos-c-brown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Harris once wrote<\/a> that her &ldquo;earliest memories of the teachings of the Bible were of a loving God, a God who asked us to &lsquo;speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves&rsquo; and to &lsquo;defend the rights of the poor and needy.&rsquo;&rdquo; She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/kamala-harris-christian-faith-religious-freedom-rcna163011\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">elsewhere told RNS<\/a>, &ldquo;I can trace my belief in the importance of public service back to learning the parable of the good Samaritan and other biblical teachings about looking out for our neighbors.&rdquo; She added:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Ever since I was a girl, church has not only been a place where I draw strength, it&rsquo;s been a place for reflection, a place to study the teachings of the Lord and to feel grounded in a complex world. &hellip; Church still plays that role for me. And I also draw something else from it as well: a sense of community and belonging where we can build lasting relationships and be there for one another in times of need.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Today Harris is a member of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/he-spent-20-years-in-prison-for-a-double-murder-he-didnt-commit-dna-evidence-exonerated-him\/\" title=\"He Spent 20 Years In Prison For A Double Murder He Didn\u2019t Commit. DNA Evidence Exonerated Him.\">predominantly black church<\/a>, whose pastor Rev. Amos C. Brown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2024\/08\/19\/kamala-harris-religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declared<\/a> that Harris &ldquo;came to this church because she knew our ways, she knew our history &hellip; This church has always had a balanced spirituality: social justice and personal fulfillment and salvation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That religious commitment to social justice is also reportedly what inclines Harris toward Hinduism. <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2024\/08\/01\/indian-and-black-hindu-and-baptist-the-multiplicities-of-kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RNS<\/a> reports, &ldquo;Part of what she has drawn from her Hindu side is her commitment to social justice,&rdquo; noting that Harris has identified Hinduism with her maternal grandfather&rsquo;s &ldquo;dedication to the freedom struggle against the British during the Partition of India in the 1940s.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Harris&rsquo; Faith as Syncretistic and Symbolic<\/h2>\n<p>It is that syncretistic union of religious traditions that the left most eagerly celebrates. The title of a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/kamala-harris-religious-faith-black-church-india-1aaa7a87fdbf32e675b9bd55ea072032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">July 25 article<\/a> in the Associated Press says it all: &ldquo;Kamala Harris: A Baptist with a Jewish husband and a faith that traces back to MLK and Gandhi.&rdquo; Black clergy, reads the AP article, &ldquo;marvel at the fusion of traditions and teachings that have molded her religious faith and social justice values.&rdquo; Indeed, religious leaders and theologians interviewed by the AP explained that her candidacy &ldquo;has special symbolic significance,&rdquo; because she is female, black, and South Asian.<\/p>\n<p>Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance, picks up this same theme of Kamala the multiculturalist, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2024\/08\/02\/kamala-harris-beliefs-about-religious-freedom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claiming<\/a> that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/carson-points-out-that-every-democratic-plan-has-backfired-in-trumps-favor-as-seen-in-the-bible-2\/\" title=\"Carson points out that every Democratic plan has backfired in Trump&#039;s favor, as seen in the Bible\">vice president&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s ties to Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity make her stand out. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ve ever before had a candidate who has navigated various religious spaces and celebrated those various spaces in such an intimate way as the vice president,&rdquo; said Raushenbush. A 2020 piece in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/religion\/kamala-harris-is-more-than-her-gender-and-race-she-is-also-the-future-of-american-religion\/2020\/08\/14\/4b44c7d6-ddc6-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a> went so far as to claim that Harris &ldquo;embodies the future of American religion,&rdquo; predicting that younger voters will &nbsp;&ldquo;recognize in Harris a kind of multifaith and spiritual belonging unfamiliar to the mostly White Christian majority of past decades.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>There, in brief, is the true meaning of Harris&rsquo; religious beliefs: a syncretistic pluralism that appeals to the left&rsquo;s shallow, perversely manipulative obsessions with identitarianism. What do voters need to know about Harris&rsquo; actual political record (such as the fact that, far from being &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy\/369177\/democrats-kamala-harris-truce-immigration-progressive-border-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">centrist<\/a>,&rdquo; she had the <a href=\"https:\/\/voteview.com\/person\/41701\/kamala-devi-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">second-most liberal voting record<\/a> during her tenure in the Senate)? Only that her identity as a black, South Asian woman and a child of immigrant parents uniquely positions her to be representative of a multicultural America in need of overcoming what <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4414630-harris-no-denying-americas-history-racism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Harris has called<\/a> its &ldquo;systemic racism.&rdquo; What do voters need to know about her religion? That it is an amalgamation of Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism that enables her to symbolize America&rsquo;s post-Christian, post-white pluralism.<\/p>\n<h2>An Adherent of the Church of Social Justice<\/h2>\n<p>In a word, Harris is a totem of the left&rsquo;s ideologically driven identitarian agenda, often framed by religiously inclined leftists as &ldquo;social justice.&rdquo; In stark contrast to the &ldquo;unenlightened&rdquo; who believe Christianity makes doctrinal and moral claims that cannot be fully reconciled with other religious traditions, Kamala the multiculturalist is &ldquo;tolerant&rdquo; and nuanced enough to draw upon a diversity of religious traditions and (somehow) represent them all. She is the champion of the globalists and borderless, furthering the narrow-minded provincials&rsquo; descent into the dustbin of history with a condescending smirk and a laugh that bespeaks her elite credentials.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it&rsquo;s a &ldquo;religiously influenced&rdquo; political project that&rsquo;s not <em>entirely <\/em>tolerant. There was that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\/kamala-harris-demonstrates-anti-catholic-bias-bigotry-conservative-faith-group\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demonstrable display<\/a> of opprobrium Harris leveled at the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal society involved in thousands of volunteer projects and responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable giving. &ldquo;An all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men&rdquo; that takes extreme positions on abortion and gay marriage is what Harris once called the Knights of Columbus &mdash; whose positions on those issues just so happen to be those held as doctrine by the Catholic Church. <\/p>\n<p>Harris has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/cna\/kamala-harris-record-on-catholic-issues\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">also co-sponsored or promoted legislation<\/a> to restrict the free speech of Christians, end religious exemptions for certain government mandates, and coerce Christian businesses to cover contraception in their health insurance policies.<\/p>\n<p>Conveniently, the religious leaders and organizations to whom Harris has wedded herself do not view such actions as inimical to &ldquo;social justice,&rdquo; that mystical phrase that serves as the connective tissue uniting Harris&rsquo; (and her allies&rsquo;) comments on her &ldquo;ecumenical&rdquo; religious faith. It is a phrase that evinces a mission transcending any single religious tradition or creed.<\/p>\n<p>It would perhaps be simplistic to observe that this religion of &ldquo;social justice&rdquo; seems a manifestation of, rather than an influence on, her politics, given it so conveniently aligns with the Democrat Party&rsquo;s stance on just about every contested contemporary political issue, from abortion and transgenderism to criminal justice, immigration, and the environment. But would it be wrong?<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Casey Chalk is a senior contributor at The Federalist and an editor and columnist at The New Oxford Review. He has a bachelor&rsquo;s in history and master&rsquo;s in teaching from the University of Virginia and a master&rsquo;s in theology from Christendom College. He is the author of The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are Kamala Harris&#8217;s beliefs, and what informs them? This question is more complex than it may seem for someone who has spent nearly a decade in national politics and fifteen years in state politics prior to that. An examination of Harris&#8217;s past statements regarding her faith, along with insights from her supporters, indicates that the significance lies less in the specifics of her beliefs and more in their symbolic value (and possibly their alignment with the Democratic Party platform).<\/p>\n<p>Harris has a diverse religious background: her mother, originally from Tamil Nadu, India, was Hindu until she married Donald J. Harris, a Jamaican American Christian. Despite this conversion, Religion News Service (RNS) notes that Harris\u2019s mother instilled a respect for Hindu temples in her daughters. Additionally, corporate media often highlight that &#8220;Kamala&#8221; means &#8220;lotus&#8221; in Sanskrit\u2014a symbol deeply rooted in Hinduism associated with Sri-Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>Raised within a Baptist church environment, Harris recalls learning about a loving God who encourages us to advocate for those without voices and support the underprivileged. She attributes her commitment to public service to biblical teachings like the parable of the Good Samaritan. In reflecting on church&#8217;s role throughout her life\u2014providing strength and community\u2014she emphasizes its importance as both a place for personal reflection and social connection.<\/p>\n<p>Currently attending Third Baptist Church of San Francisco\u2014a predominantly Black congregation\u2014Harris is recognized by Rev. Amos C. Brown as someone who understands their history and values social justice alongside personal fulfillment.<\/p>\n<p>Her inclination towards social justice also connects back to her Hindu heritage; RNS reports that she draws inspiration from her grandfather\u2019s involvement in India&#8217;s freedom struggle against British rule during Partition.<\/p>\n<p>The left celebrates this blend of religious traditions within Harris\u2019s identity; an Associated Press article describes her as \u201cA Baptist with a Jewish husband\u201d whose faith reflects influences from Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. Black clergy express admiration for how various traditions have shaped both her spiritual beliefs and commitment to social justice.<\/p>\n<p>Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush highlights how unique it is for someone like Harris to navigate multiple religious spaces so intimately while celebrating them all simultaneously\u2014a sentiment echoed by The Washington Post which claims she represents the future landscape of American religion appealing particularly to younger voters seeking multifaith connections unlike those seen among previous generations dominated by White Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>In essence, what defines Harris&#8217;s faith appears to be an amalgamation reflecting pluralism favored by leftist ideologies rather than any singular doctrine or moral stance tied strictly to one tradition or another\u2014an identity crafted around being representative of America\u2019s multicultural fabric confronting systemic racism.<\/p>\n<p>Harris embodies an agenda aligned with leftist identitarianism framed under \u201csocial justice.\u201d Unlike traditional views where Christianity holds exclusive doctrinal truths incompatible with other religions\u2019 teachings; Kamala embraces diversity across faiths while positioning herself as tolerant enough to represent them all simultaneously\u2014a championing figure against perceived provincial attitudes toward globalization.<\/p>\n<p>However, this politically charged approach isn\u2019t entirely inclusive; there have been instances where she criticized organizations like Knights of Columbus over their stances on abortion or same-sex marriage\u2014positions consistent with Catholic doctrine\u2014and supported legislation limiting free speech rights among Christians or mandating certain health coverage policies contrary to some Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>The leaders aligning themselves with Harris often do not see these actions contradicting \u201csocial justice,\u201d which serves as an overarching theme connecting various aspects of both political discourse surrounding religion today\u2014as it aligns closely with Democratic positions on contentious issues such as abortion rights or immigration reform\u2014which raises questions about whether this notion truly influences policy decisions rather than merely serving political convenience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2337061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-86.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14436,40158,10248,22521,36625],"class_list":["post-2337060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-activism","tag-new-age","tag-religion","tag-slogans","tag-social-justice"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-86.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2337061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}