Christianity & Culture with Kierstyn St. John

How should Christians vote in the 2024 presidential election?

• Kierstyn St. John of Zoetic • Season 1 • Episode 7

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In this video, I unpack whether Christians should vote for Donald Trump, vote for Kamala Harris, or not vote at all. As the 2024 presidential election is only one month away, it’s important for Christians to choose to do what aligns most with biblical values. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s not as clear cut. 

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Kierstyn St. John:

So I don't know if you guys have heard, but we have an election coming up. What's a Christian to do? Is it okay to vote for Trump? Is it okay to vote for Harris? Today, we're going to explore that question.

Kierstyn St. John:

Okay, so I've talked a lot about Christians and the subject of politics, and prominent Christians often either fall to one of two extremes Either it seems that they are afraid to talk about anything political, like even if the topic is clear in Scripture, they just stay away from it entirely. Or they're overly political, making it seem like all of their political opinions are clear in Scripture, and I don't want to fall on either side of that. Okay, but I did want to talk a little bit about this upcoming election and I want to provide as biblical of a take on this as I possibly can, not extending past the bounds of scripture. Okay, and scripture doesn't say a ton about this, because obviously the Jews and Christians of that time they didn't live in like a democracy where you could vote in leaders, necessarily and so the Bible doesn't say a ton about, like, how to vote for specific people, right, but I think there are principles that we can apply here, so let's explore all three of these paths voting for Kamala Harris, voting for Donald Trump and choosing not to vote at all.

Kierstyn St. John:

In my opinion, there is clearly one of these three paths that is closed off to Christians, and that is to vote for Kamala Harris. Okay, this, this is justifiable as a Bible-believing Christian, and I want to make a disclaimer. This is important. I am not saying that if you vote for Kamala Harris, you aren't a Christian. Okay, you might be a new Christian, you might be ignorant of her policies, but what I'm saying is that professing Christians, who know better and they should know better should not vote for Kamala Harris. Okay. So if you are a professing Christian, this is really not a path that's open to you, and I'm going to explain why. Okay, again, not every person who calls themselves a Christian and votes for Kamala Harris is a false Christian, but I think that they are deeply misinformed. Kamala Harris, first of all, has not put any limits on abortion.

Speaker 2:

But does it need to be specific in terms of defining where that guarantee goes up to and where it does not? Which week of pregnancy we need to put back in place the protections of Roe versus Wade? Republicans say the lack of a precise date in cutting it off. You know this. They say that allows Democrats to perform abortions up until you know birth.

Kamala Harris:

Which is ridiculous, statistically not accurate and it's ridiculous. I understand that and it's a mischaracterization of the point. No, the point is but do you need to be more precise.

Kierstyn St. John:

I am being precise, she has implied that she would approve of abortion up until birth. She would be radical, appointing judges at the circuit and state levels. She also sent federal agents to the home of a man named David Daleiden after he exposed back in, I believe, 2012, that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal body parts for large sums of money. So David Daleiden went undercover and exposed evil evil things that Planned Parenthood was doing. And then Kamala Harris sent federal agents to his house. She is radically pro-abortion. I don't have time to get into this per se, but the Bible is clear about the personhood of a child in the womb you know Psalm 139, and that it is a sin to murder someone Technically. Abortion does fall under that terminology. Kamala Harris is also radical. To murder someone Technically abortion does fall under that terminology. Kamala Harris is also radical in terms of trans rights, transgender rights and the LGBTQ agenda.

Kamala Harris:

And so, when we fight the fight that we are in for equality and for justice and for freedom, let's hold on to the knowledge that when we are fighting this fight, people will at some point finally get the fact that all people should be treated equally under the law.

Kierstyn St. John:

The Bible condemns homosexual activity in multiple places, and, considering that God only made men and women and he made them different from each other Plus, there is a strict prohibition on cross-dressing in scripture, we can pretty clearly infer what God thinks about the transgender issue as well, which is that God believes that if he willed and created you to be a woman or a man, then that's what you should try to stay.

Kierstyn St. John:

And so Kamala Harris has just been absolutely radical on this issue as well. She has clearly made herself directly opposed to Christian values this is a side note a little bit, but she's also been abysmal economically. Okay, seeing that she and Joe Biden have been in charge for the last four years, and every American pretty much is worse off financially than when they were four years ago when they took office. That isn't directly a biblical point, but that is a good point for not voting for her. So, again, I think, based on the abortion and the LGBTQ perspectives that Kamala Harris has clearly shown that she holds, she is directly opposed to a biblical worldview and there is really no justification, as a Christian, voting for that. Okay. However, I don't. This is gonna be a little controversial. I don't have any reason to believe that Donald Trump either is a Christian or is some paragon of Christian values. Okay, lately he himself has been weak on abortion.

Donald Trump:

Like Ronald Reagan, I am strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

Kierstyn St. John:

He's obviously pro gay marriage, as pretty much everyone in mainstream politics now is. He has spoken out against like trans rights and stuff, which is good.

Donald Trump:

I will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth.

Kierstyn St. John:

From a Christian perspective, donald Trump would probably be the lesser of two evils choice. I'm sorry, I know there is a lot of people who love Trump. I personally don't. Unless he unequivocally says that we need to change the 14th Amendment to protect the life of every unborn baby and that marriage is perfect fundamentally between one man and one woman, which would make Obergefell unconstitutional. He is the lesser of two evils, but he is not. He is far from being a clear Christian choice. Okay, I'm not thrilled about voting for that. To be honest with you, I understand that he's significantly better on economics than Kamala Harris, significantly better with you know immigration and things of that nature, but I'm not thrilled to be voting for Donald Trump. I'd rather vote for someone who is strongly pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, because these are things that are clear in scripture.

Kierstyn St. John:

Some Christians argue that we should vote for Trump to prevent a far worse person from winning, which would be Kamala Harris, and I see a lot of pragmatism in that. If Christians choose the third path, which is not to vote, and they stay home, that essentially gives the advantage to Harris and Kamala Harris. Winning this election would be a disaster. It would be a disaster. Christians have lived under worse, but the country and its policies would continue to turn further and further away from the values that Christians hold dear. And the other thing I want to say, too, is just because you vote for someone, it doesn't mean that you back all of their policies. Ok, you know, I've never fully agreed with any person that I've ever voted for, and you know, yes, trump is obnoxious, but I'd rather live in his country than Kamala Harris's, and so I'll give my view. For this reason, I will be voting for Donald Trump, although, honestly, I'm not a huge fan of his personality. But I don't have to barbecue with him. Okay, he's proven that he can run the country without running it into the ground, and so that's good enough for me. And he is more inclined to Christian values, even though I wish he was even more than that. That being said, some Christians are pursuing a third option, which is to not vote at all. Now, from a purely pragmatic and political standpoint, I believe this is a mistake. Again, a Christian choosing not to vote at all is essentially a vote and an advantage to Kamala Harris, right? However, this is an okay. Choice Like this isn't a moral mistake. It isn't sinful. Okay If a Christian is convicted that they can't vote for either candidate because neither one supports Christian values. Other Christians should respect that. That is a matter of conscience, a Romans 14 matter. Okay, and Lila Rose is an example of this.

Kierstyn St. John:

Lila Rose is a Catholic, a prominent pro-life Catholic. A couple months ago, she decided that she had had enough of Trump pandering to the pro-choice crowd. A BBC article says this by late August, miss Rose Lila Rose had had enough. Enough telling her more than 1 million followers that Trump was making it impossible to vote for him. She says this it is very clear that Trump is less pro-abortion than Kamala Harris, she told the BBC on Thursday. But our movement's goal is not to just accept whatever the least, worst candidate is and show up for them. Our goal is to help candidates who are going to be fighters for the pre-born.

Kierstyn St. John:

And, by the way, from a moral standpoint, I agree with Lila Rose on that. She has a point, and if Lila Rose feels personally convicted that she can't vote for Trump, I'm not going to guilt her for it. But I would like to make one argument, and that is this I would like to make one argument and that is this Objectively, less babies in the womb will die under a Trump presidency than a Kamala Harris one. So this is why I believe that, as Christians, voting for Trump is better, pragmatically, than not voting at all. However, again, morally, either path is available to the Christian. The only path that I believe is morally unjustifiable as a Christian is again voting for Kamala Harris, unless you're a new Christian or woefully ignorant of her policies and, quite frankly, you could be ignorant of her policies because she hasn't done a great job of explaining exactly what her policies are.

Kierstyn St. John:

What is my ultimate point? We should be able to talk about upcoming elections as Christians. Okay, anytime I veer into political topics, there are some Christians who just cannot stand that. They don't think that I should be talking about that at all, but religion and politics and culture are intertwined. They're not the same thing, but they are all connected and we should be able to take moral and biblical stances on elections. As Christians, we should be able to prefer one candidate over the other as Christians and tell other Christians why that candidate is preferable. The choice between voting for Trump or not voting at all is an option. Pragmatically, I'm going to vote for Trump. I would encourage other Christians to do so, but if they feel like they can't, don't vote at all. Kamala Harris is not a viable option for the Christian, and that is pretty much where I am going to leave it.