{"id":24309,"date":"2024-09-09T15:28:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T19:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=24309"},"modified":"2024-09-09T15:29:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T19:29:58","slug":"kamala-harris-references-book-of-luke-during-video-message-at-ame-church-general-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/09\/kamala-harris-references-book-of-luke-during-video-message-at-ame-church-general-conference","title":{"rendered":"Kamala Harris References Book of Luke During Video Message at AME Church General Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
African Methodist Episcopal Church \/ YouTube | Inset: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris sent a video message<\/a> to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church\u2019s General Conference, praising the church\u2019s support and encouraging a focus on the future. It\u2019s a church that has polled strongly for Democrats, with 92 percent of its members identifying with that party. \u201cThis is the most consequential election of our lifetime,\u201d said Harris, who also thanked congregants for their \u201cget-out-the-vote\u201d efforts. \u201cAs the Gospel of Luke tells us, faith has the power to shine a light on those living in darkness and to guide our feet in the path of peace. In moments such as this, faith guides us forward. Faith in the promise of America: freedom, opportunity and justice \u2013 not for some, but for all,\u201d she added. Harris appeared to be referring to a passage in Luke 1, where Zechariah is blessing his newborn son, John the Baptist. In verses 76-79, he says: \u201cAnd you, child, will be called\u00a0the prophet of\u00a0the Most High; for\u00a0you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the\u00a0tender mercy of our God, whereby\u00a0the sunrise shall\u00a0visit us from on high to\u00a0give light to\u00a0those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,\u00a0to guide our feet into\u00a0the way of\u00a0peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris told congregants that they were facing two different visions for America, with the Democrat vision \u201cfocused on the future,\u201d while Donald Trump and the GOP are \u201cfocused on the past.\u201d \u201cWe are not going back. We are fighting for a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every senior can retire with dignity, and every person has the opportunity to own a home, start a business, and build intergenerational wealth,\u201d she said. She described, \u201cA future with affordable health care, affordable childcare and paid leave, and a future where we protect our most fundamental freedoms and rights, including the freedom to worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris herself identifies as a Baptist, with a particular focus on the idea of social justice. \u201cShe has always understood that Jesus and justice go together. So, it\u2019s not hard to see why she chose a church that has that kind of justice DNA,\u201d said<\/a> longtime friend Rev. Freddie D. Haynes III in a previous interview about her faith. \u201cHer spirituality has been informed by a sense of justice for those who are othered, disadvantaged, and treated as second-class citizens.\u201d Critics, however, were quick to note the irony of Harris addressing the Conference about equality, given the church had just upheld its ban on gay marriage earlier that day. Gay marriage and LGBTQ+ rights have been a major feature of Democrat party\u2019s platform, with Harris voicing her support for transgender ideology and marriage equality. Supporters, however, viewed her comments about \u201cnot going back\u201d as a subtle rebuke<\/a> to the church\u2019s vote. However, the Harris campaign has not responded to inquiries as to whether or not she was aware of the church\u2019s vote before the video message was released. Representatives from the AME Church also did not respond to Fox News\u2019s<\/em><\/a> attempts at comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris sent a video message to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church\u2019s General Conference, praising the church\u2019s support and encouraging a focus on the future. It\u2019s a church that has polled strongly for Democrats, with 92 percent of its members identifying with that party. \u201cThis is the most consequential election of our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":24312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2114,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democrat","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nKamala Harris References Book of Luke During Video Message at AME Church General Conference<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/09\/kamala-harris-references-book-of-luke-during-video-message-at-ame-church-general-conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kamala Harris References Book of Luke During Video Message at AME Church General Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Presidential candidate Kamala Harris sent a video message to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church\u2019s General Conference, praising the church\u2019s support and encouraging a focus on the future. It\u2019s a church that has polled strongly for Democrats, with 92 percent of its members identifying with that party. \u201cThis is the most consequential election of our…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/09\/kamala-harris-references-book-of-luke-during-video-message-at-ame-church-general-conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-09T19:28:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-09T19:29:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2024\/09\/kamala-harris_credit-0AAfrican-Methodist-Episcopal-Church-YouTube_Inset-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kamala Harris References Book of Luke During Video Message at AME Church General Conference","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/09\/kamala-harris-references-book-of-luke-during-video-message-at-ame-church-general-conference","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kamala Harris References Book of Luke During Video Message at AME Church General Conference","og_description":"Presidential candidate Kamala Harris sent a video message to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church\u2019s General Conference, praising the church\u2019s support and encouraging a focus on the future. 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