Donald Trump and Kamala Harris: Key differences for a Christian

Republicans and Democrats have different attitudes towards religion and traditional values. Photo: UOJ

After the U.S. elections, various experts make predictions about what the new American administration's policies will be regarding domestic affairs, the economy, international relations, and more. All of this is undoubtedly important. However, we are more interested in the worldview, the value system, and the perspective of the world that both President Trump and key figures in his future administration will rely on. The elections in the U.S. have long ceased to be just an internal American matter, as the country has an enormous influence on the entire world.

Trump was supported by millions of voters, meaning they, too, share this value system and see the world the way the election winner does. On the other hand, the losing candidate, Kamala Harris, was also supported by millions of Americans, and her value system is similarly shared by a vast number of people. However, it is worth noting that in 2016, Donald Trump became president only thanks to the complex U.S. electoral system, where the head of state is not chosen directly by the people but by electors from each state. In the popular vote, Trump received 2.9 million fewer votes than his opponent at the time, Hillary Clinton. But in 2024, Trump secured 3.7 million more votes than Kamala Harris, winning 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226, and triumphed in all of the so-called swing states. His victory was so convincing that it was immediately acknowledged by his opponents.

But does this mean that the worldview Trump adheres to is now beginning to dominate American society? Does it mean that the trend toward support for conservatively oriented values, with which Trump is associated, has become dominant over the liberal agenda, which the Democratic Party and its candidate Kamala Harris have firmly embraced? Only time will answer this question. However, the fact that in recent years right-wing or conservative parties have been winning elections in both the U.S. and many European countries already allows us to make cautious conclusions.

Religious views of Republicans and Democrats

The religious factor plays a very significant role in American politics. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries on the planet, and likely the most religious among Western nations. No president or even significant politician can afford to claim, for example, that they are an atheist. However, presenting oneself as a believer and truly adhering to religious moral standards are not the same, as will be discussed below.

Donald Trump comes from a Protestant family. At one point, he was a member of the Reformed Church in America, and later he belonged to the Presbyterian Church. In 2020, he declared that he no longer considered himself a Presbyterian but rather an interdenominational (i.e., not belonging to any particular denomination) Christian. The extent of his church involvement is a matter of debate. For example, his niece, Mary Trump, who published a book about the Trump family, stated that Donald only attended church once, and that was only because reporters were waiting for him there.

The elected Vice President, J.D. Vance, is Catholic. He comes from a Catholic family, but as a child, he did not enjoy going to church, and as an adult, he held atheist views. He consciously embraced faith and was baptized only in 2019 at the age of 35. This intentional approach to faith rather than simply following family or national traditions shapes his position on religious freedoms and traditional morality. For example, he strongly criticizes the persecution of the Church in Ukraine and religious discrimination in other countries.

Kamala Harris identifies as a Baptist and even refers to Amos C. Brown, the leader of the Third Baptist Church (one of the liberal Baptist denominations), as her "pastor". At the same time, her worldview was heavily influenced by her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who was born in India and not only introduced her daughter to Hinduism but also named her after the Hindu goddess of luck. Journalist Jay Lee Grady, who studied Harris's statements on religious topics, describes her worldview as a blend of Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism. However, it would likely be more accurate to describe her views as liberalism elevated to the level of divinity.

It is probably unnecessary to discuss the religious views of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, who is not widely known. It is far more interesting to look at the religious beliefs of Joe Biden, who was a presidential candidate but stepped aside in favor of Kamala Harris. In many ways, Biden's position was decisive in the political landscape of the American administration during his presidency.

Biden positions himself as a practicing Catholic. He tries to attend church services every week, even when traveling abroad. He reads the Bible and can quote it verbatim. He calls Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople his close friend. But how does this align with his support for LGBT rights, abortion, and other issues?

Biden himself explains this paradox as follows: "My faith makes me who I am. I have been a practicing Catholic all my life. And I remain one. I accept the Church's position on abortion. Life begins at conception. But I refuse to impose these beliefs on others—on other equally devout Christians, or Muslims, or Jews."

There is a certain amount of hypocrisy in this since refusing to impose is one thing but actively promoting and enacting laws in support of these issues is quite another. Here are some facts that characterize the position of the Biden-Harris team on moral issues and values.

Biden-Harris: Attitude toward the LGBT agenda

In 2016, Joe Biden personally participated in the wedding ceremony of "two great guys from the White House". It didn’t stop there. In 2020, he stated that an 8-year-old child has the right to be transgender. In June 2022, Biden said that, thanks to his efforts, there were more LGBT individuals working in the White House than in all other administrations combined.

On December 12, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a federal law protecting the right to same-sex marriage. The ceremony was attended by Kamala Harris, prominent Democratic Party figures, and LGBT representatives. The law was tellingly titled the "Respect for Marriage Act". In March 2021, Biden announced the creation of the White House Gender Policy Council.

Moreover, the Biden administration allocated $2.6 billion to the Gender Equality and Equal Rights Action Fund, which promotes gender narratives worldwide. The Biden administration worked to undo all initiatives aimed at protecting traditional values, which had been introduced by Donald Trump during his presidency from 2016 to 2020. A quote from the Biden-Harris campaign platform for the 2020 election, which they won, highlights this shift: "President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are committed to restoring reproductive rights that were taken away by Trump. With a Democratic Congress, we will pass a national law to restore Roe (the law that guarantees a woman's right to an abortion until the fetus is viable). We will expand access to contraception so that every woman who needs it can afford and access it. We will protect a woman's right to access IVF. We will repeal the Hyde Amendment. And during his second term, President Biden will continue to support access to FDA-approved medication abortion, appoint FDA leaders who respect science, and appoint judges who protect fundamental freedoms."

Upon taking office, the Biden administration did everything possible to implement its liberal agenda. Kamala Harris was actively involved in this process. She officiated at same-sex wedding ceremonies as early as 2004 and has been a vocal supporter of such unions since 2008. In 2016, while serving as Attorney General of California, Harris advocated for the right of transgender individuals to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity. This meant that both children and adults could use restrooms, changing rooms, and other similar spaces based not on their biological sex but on how they identified at the time.

The Biden-Harris administration reversed Trump's ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military and introduced federal healthcare programs to provide medical assistance for gender transition.

The administration also prohibited discrimination against LGBT individuals in the workplace, defining such discrimination as a form of sex-based discrimination. This means, for example, that male employees can dress as women, and the employer would be powerless to intervene, even if this behavior negatively impacts business operations or customer relations.

Kamala Harris supports a nationwide ban on "conversion therapy". This would make it illegal to use any scientific, including medical or psychotherapeutic, methods aimed at returning an individual to their biological sex or heterosexual orientation.

Harris also opposes criticism of LGBT individuals in education, particularly in schools, and has expressed her intention to pass the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal civil rights laws.

Perhaps, the most shocking policy change from the Biden-Harris administration is the removal of age restrictions on gender therapy and surgical interventions for sex reassignment. In 2021, under pressure from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health removed age limits for hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgeries. This means that even children could undergo irreversible surgeries and receive hormone treatments if it is determined that they "were born with the wrong gender".

Trump-Vance agenda

Regarding the protection of traditional values, an analysis of the website donaldjtrump.com yields the following results:

Trump promises to enact a federal law banning gender reassignment surgeries for minors, as well as initiate a Congressional effort to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to promote or pay for such procedures.

If elected, Trump plans to introduce a bill that would establish that the United States government recognizes only two genders – male and female – and that these are determined at birth. He also promises to "keep men out of women’s sports" (referring to situations where a man identifies as a transgender woman and competes in women’s events).

Trump is adamantly opposed to the notion that a child should be taught the narrative that they were "born in the wrong body". Specifically, he vows to instruct the Department of Education to "inform states and school districts that if any teacher or school staff member suggests to a child that they might be trapped in the wrong body, serious consequences will follow, including potential violations of civil rights for gender-based discrimination and the termination of federal funding".

Trump promised to put an end to federal DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, which he describes as imposing "racist and woke sexual ideology on the entire federal government".

The Trump team has developed a comprehensive "Plan to Save American Education and Give Power Back to Parents", under which federal funding will be reduced for any school or program that forces children to accept Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or any other unacceptable racial, sexual, or political content. There is also a proposal for a "Parents' Bill of Rights", which would ensure full transparency in school curricula. These efforts aim to stop the practice where schools effectively sideline parents from making decisions about their children and allow unknown individuals to shape their worldview, convincing them of the correctness of LGBT narratives and other liberal values.

The deception of Harris and Biden, and the truth of Trump

The deception of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden manifests on two levels: personal and conceptual, and these levels are undeniably interconnected. Kamala Harris calls herself a Christian. But to be a Christian means to follow God's commandments or at the very least to avoid doing things that directly contradict them.

An indisputable fact is that the LGBT ideology directly contradicts the Holy Scriptures. As the Bible says, “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) and many other verses. It is impossible to be a Christian and promote the LGBT ideology. Yet, Harris combines these two. This deceit becomes even more apparent in Joe Biden. He calls himself a Catholic, regularly go to church, and at the same time promotes what the Bible calls sodomy and legalizes abortion – the killing of a child in the womb.

What is most striking is that there is no recognition of this contradiction in the White House. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Biden "continues to believe in and support same-sex unions. He has held this position for a long time". This contradiction with truth is so evident that it cannot be ignored.

Catholic Archbishop Joseph Naumann stated that Biden's actions mislead people regarding what the Church believes and teaches.

In his opinion, Biden's stance on abortion and LGBT issues is problematic because "he does these things, and then in response to questions about them, he or his press secretary says: 'Biden is a devout Catholic.'" "Whether he wants it or not, by his actions, he tells people, 'You can be a good Catholic and do the same thing,'" Naumann emphasized.

The conceptual deceit lies in the fact that Biden-Harris and their ideological allies engage in the substitution of terms. For example, as mentioned earlier, in 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a federal law protecting the right to same-sex marriage, called the "Respect for Marriage Act". But a homosexual union cannot be called a marriage, as for centuries people have understood that marriage is only possible between a man and a woman. Even during times when homosexuality was widespread, for instance, in ancient Greece and Rome, no one ever thought to call a same-sex relationship a marriage. Therefore, a more honest title for this law would have been the "Disrespect for Marriage Act".

Another example of this conceptual deception is gender ideology. The traditional conceptual framework of humanity has included the concepts of man and woman. “So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female, He created them” (Genesis 1:27). These concepts have been used by all of humanity throughout history. But now these concepts are being replaced by gender ideology, and people are being categorized not as men and women, but as, for example, bigender, intersex, pansexual, or transgender. This is what the prophet Isaiah was referring to when he said: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

It would perhaps have been more honest if Biden, Harris, and their allies had simply told people the truth. If they had chosen one path and said, "We are abandoning Christianity, we do not consider the Bible a sacred book, and we do not wish to listen to the voice of the Church. We are for LGBT rights, abortion, and so on." But they do not say this. And they do not say it because they do not want to lose the votes of those who consider themselves Christians.

The Lord gave us a universal method for recognizing such people: “Thus, by their fruits you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:20-21).

In contrast, the Trump-Vance team advocates for calling things by their true names. Men should be men, and women should be women. The foundation of the new American administration's ideology is that all key worldview concepts will be clearly defined. Children will be the children of their parents, not of the school administration. And various gender propagandists will not be allowed to convince teenagers that they were "born in the wrong body". This is the main conceptual honesty.

Personal honesty is also evident in Trump's approach of not ignoring facts. Again, an example is his stance on the persecution of the UOC (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church) in Ukraine. It is no secret that the OCU (the Orthodox Church of Ukraine) was created during Trump's first presidency. Although it is already known that the main lobbyist for the OCU, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will not receive a position in Trump's new administration, it is hard to imagine that the creation of the OCU was solely Pompeo's effort without the approval of other members of the Trump team. However, when the OCU, a creation of the U.S. administration, began to commit violence against the faithful of the UOC and when the Ukrainian authorities started violating the right to freedom of conscience, Trump’s team spoke out unequivocally.

For example, elected Vice President JD Vance posted a speech on social media in which he harshly criticized Bill 8371, which bans the UOC. Moreover, he stated that the U.S. bears responsibility for the situation. “…. our shame in this Chamber for not seeing it coming. Our shame for inaction. Our shame for refusing to use the billions of dollars we send to Ukraine as leverage to ensure and guarantee religious freedom,” Vance declared.

Another member of the Trump team, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who will hold a high position in the new American administration, also prefers to be honest. In November 2023, he stated that U.S. taxpayers are essentially funding the ban of a Christian denomination in Ukraine. "This is actually what is happening. They are doing this in relation to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They banned them. The Ukrainian parliament just did this last week with our dollars' support,” Ramaswamy said, calling on his audience to condemn the Ukrainian authorities “for banning Christianity”.

Can the world return to traditional values?

When discussing the potential victory of Donald Trump and his team in the presidential election, it is impossible to ignore the fact that both Trump and Biden, as well as Kamala Harris, had a fairly high negative approval rating. In other words, the number of people who did not want to see these individuals at the helm of power was very high. This means that people were not necessarily choosing the individuals themselves but rather the system of values, the paradigm associated with these candidates. Trump’s resounding victory signifies that the majority of the American people voted for a traditional system of values, categories, and concepts that has been inherent to humanity. Trump's victory is a victory for common sense, at least when it comes to the foundations of worldview.

At the same time, we must remember that the United States is the leader of the entire Western world, the “trendsetter” in politics, economics, and ideology. One can cautiously predict that if America makes a definitive turn back toward traditional values, similar processes could begin in other countries, primarily in Europe.

This article, however, is not a panegyric to specific political figures. We are merely presenting the facts. After all, history (including that of Ukraine) is full of examples where campaign promises remained just that – promises. It is also well known that one should not become overly enamored with politicians, lest they be disappointed later.

For us Christians, our hope is always placed in one thing: it is not in princes, not in the sons of men. Our hope is in God. At the same time, the Lord works in our world through the hands of people. Therefore, we wish the new president of the United States and his administration the strength to remain true to their words and declared principles. If they do indeed stay true to them, they will not lack help from above.

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