Pastor Ray Ortlund of
Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, caught hell over the weekend for endorsing Kamala Harris. After trying to defend the statement, the Renewal Ministries president ultimately took down the social media post with the endorsement, claiming it had been “misinterpreted.”
“Never Trump. This time Harris. Always Jesus,” Ortlund
wrote on Threads.
Self-identified conservative David French of the New York Times — who recently
did his best to characterize a vote for Harris as the way to “save conservatism” — responded to Ortlund, “This is the way.”
Other Christians were
less understanding and quickly piled on.
William Wolfe, founder and executive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership,
wrote that Ortlund, Russell Moore’s pastor, is the “quintessential ‘Big Eva’ pastor [a]nd now he’s using the name of Christ to endorse a pro-abortion, pro-trans communist.”
Extra to supporting taxpayer-funded sex changes for illegal aliens, Harris has committed to codifying abortion as a federal right and has personally
targeted a pro-life activist for exposing the trafficking of butchered babies’ remains.
‘The Democratic platform and the Bible cannot co-exist without one subverting the other.’
Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R)
noted that Ortlund endorsed a ticket that supports “kidnapping the children of parents who oppose child genital mutilation[;] Tampons in boys’ bathrooms[;] Child murder up to birth and beyond[;] Covid snitch lines[;] Communism[;] And much more.”
Some critics
shared a video of Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, announcing protections for those who would subject minors to sex-change mutilations — something President Donald Trump has vowed to criminalize.
“If you claim to be an evangelical but plan to back the most liberal Senator and the most progressive platform in U.S. history — both of which blatantly contradict fundamental biblical principles of creation order and justice — then you have no right to lecture others about sticking to principles and voting with integrity,”
wrote Andrew T. Walker, associate professor of Christian ethics and public theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “The Democratic platform and the Bible cannot co-exist without one subverting the other.”
‘My fault.’
Megan Basham, author of “Shepherds for Sale,”
noted that “it’s understandable that some Christians feel they cannot back Trump. It is not understandable to back Harris. Don’t confuse Ortlund with principled third party voters or abstainers. This is indefensible.”
When asked how he could vote for Harris and Walz, especially in light of their pro-abortion agenda, Ortlund
responded, “Abortion is a horrible evil. But the evils on the other side have risen to levels that jeopardize the foundational rule of law in our country. I am thinking long-term and voting for us to have a chance at national renewal in the future.”
The pastor’s defense prompted more criticism.
“If Pastor Ortlund is truly concerned about not jeopardizing the rule of law in America, one has to wonder where he has been during the past nearly four years,”
wrote John G. West, vice president of the Discovery Institute.
After alluding to Democratic lawfare, the Biden-Harris administration’s encouragement of censorship on social media,
prosecutions of peaceful pro-life protesters, and the “refusal to enforce laws already on the books,” West noted, “This [is] only a short list of what has been happening. But Ortlund assures us that in order to protect the rule of law we must vote for the same people responsible for these things.”
Sunday evening, Ortlund deleted his endorsement,
writing, “I have deleted a post from earlier today because it was being misinterpreted. I should have foreseen it. My fault.”
When pressed on how it was being interpreted, the pastor suggested that answering that question “could risk reversing [his] decision to delete.”
Amidst the backlash, Ortlund was met with numerous comments on Threads thanking him for his Harris endorsement, several of which he signaled appreciation for.
French and Ortlund — both of whom are involved in Redeeming Babel’s “After Party” course for churches — are not alone in thinking that voting for Trump is un-Christian.
Blaze News previously reported that Texas state Rep. James Talarico — a
pro-abortion Democrat with a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes who regards the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms as “deeply un-Christian” — told MSNBC’s Katie Phang Saturday that “too many Christians have forgotten all about Jesus and now worship at the feet of Donald Trump — a business cheat, a pathological liar, a serial adulterer, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist.”
“I guess it’s hate the sin, elect the sinner. That seems to be the new motto of too many Christians in this country,” added Talarico.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
H/T: The Christian Post
