6 Days
You know what I'm referring to.
Early voting has already started, and in six days time we’ll have a sense of which direction our governance will turn.
This publication isn’t typically tied to the news cycle, but here in the States, the last remaining weeks leading up to Election Day feel as if everything else is either frozen or tied directly to the election. So of course, I’m going to be talking and writing about it.
I’m going to vote for Kamala Harris.
I wrote extensively in my book about evangelicalism and Trumpism. I also produced an entire series about evangelicalism and Christian nationalism in 2020, and the folks I spoke to then have gone on to become star commentators on the topic.
But none of this addresses the genocide in Gaza, or any other recent development.
Instead, I’m going to share a video posted by
recently, which addressed white exvangelicals in particular. Note that she does not prescribe anything for BIPOC folks, but goes into great detail about why voting for Harris (or against Trump, pick your poison) and not for a non-viable third-party is valuable in this moment.
The genocide is horrendous. There is no changing our complicity as a nation in that, nor is there any changing our complicity in so many other historical atrocities—the web of mutuality that ties us all together does so for good and for ill. And there is no getting around the fact that a vote is a very blunt instrument.
I cannot mollify the concerns or tensions over Gaza or any other conflicting issue. Yet we have to live and act in conflict, including often a conflict of conscience. (Appeal to your god if you want that reconciled.) But I am heartened that even longtime activists can acknowledge conflict. Angela Davis said this in February 2013 about Obama:
“I have many critiques of Obama. I think Guantánamo Bay should have been shut down by now. And we should not have gone into Afghanistan. At the same time I try to use a feminist approach that allows me to work the contradiction so that I can be supportive of Obama and I can also be extremely critical of him at the same time.”
In that spirit, supporting Harris/Walz does not require you to agree with every part of their platform. But it should be apparent that another Trump term would be far worse for everyone.
In a world where legacy newspapers are obeying in advance, tech-oriented publication The Verge said it plainly: A vote for Donald Trumps is a vote for school shootings and measles.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve had more experience seeing what Hill-oriented advocacy looks like, and I’ve seen the impact that endless campaigning has had on our ability to legislate. Whatever the outcome next week, there’s still a lot of work to do—in ourselves, in our communities, and in our capacity to self-govern.
Next week I’m going to be talking with
of alongside and Redeem Robinson. That show will air live on YouTube on Wednesday, November 6th at 5pm PT/8 pm ET. Learn more here and subscribe to Jera’s publication:
Elsewhere Online
I was interviewed for
’s Substack earlier this week. She’s the author of The Exvangelicals. You can find that interview here:My friend and frequent collaborator
recently published an article for The Conversationalist about exvangelical literature, which includes a write-up of my book as well as McCammon’s. It’s a great summation of the state of the genre, and I recommend it.This is a free post. Subscribe if you haven’t already with this link. I donate 25% of net revenue.
Thanks for amplifying Angela Davis' wise words. With you in wanting to support and be critical at the same time.