AS THE race for the White House enters its final weeks, the Christian vote has moved centre stage, with campaigns that feature the late evangelist Dr Billy Graham and an edition of the Bible endorsed by Donald Trump.
Although white Evangelical voters, according to polling, remain overwhelmingly supportive of the Republican candidate, a campaign promoting the Democrat candidate, Evangelicals for [Kamala] Harris, has released an advertisement that splices Dr Graham’s words with quotations from Mr Trump’s rallies.
One clip juxtaposes an excerpt from a Graham sermon — “But you must realize that in the last days, the times will be full of danger. Men will become utterly self-centered and greedy for money” — with a clip of Mr Trump telling a rally: “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.”
The president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the charity Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham (Dr Graham’s son), has issued a “cease and desist” order against Evangelicals for Harris.
In a statement to the Religion News Service, the BGEA said: “In all of his years of ministry and across relationships with 11 U.S. presidents, Billy Graham sought only to encourage them and to offer them the counsel of Christ, as revealed through God’s word. He never criticized presidents publicly and would undoubtedly refuse to let his sermons be used to do so, regardless of who is involved.”
Mr Graham said that his father “appreciated the conservative values and policies of President Trump in 2016, and, if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed”. Dr Graham died in 2018.
Evangelicals for Harris has published a letter from its lawyers to the BGEA. The letter argues that the “limited” use of footage from the 1988 sermon is protected as fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. “Our ability to publicly discuss the moral failings of Donald Trump and how his behavior comports with the values espoused by evangelical leaders, including Billy Graham, is essential First Amendment expression.”
Most white Evangelicals support Mr Trump: more than 80 per cent are likely to vote for him next month, a survey by Pew Research reports.
AlamyA supporter’s head is bowed during prayer before Donald Trump arrives at a rally at the Calhoun Ranch, Coachella, in California, on Saturday
Sales for the Trump campaign of a “God Bless America” Bible for $59.99, incorporating an American flag on the cover and the text of the US Constitution inside, has also generated criticism, particularly after it emerged that it was made in China. Mr Trump has made fierce public criticism of China.
One edition commemorates the 13 July assassination attempt on Mr Trump in Pennsylvania (News, 19 July) with his name on the cover above the words “The Day God Intervened”.
Mr Trump has formed a partnership with the country singer Lee Greenwood to market the Bibles. In a promotional video, he urges viewers, inspired by Greenwood’s song “God bless the USA”, to buy the Bible, which includes texts of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
“This Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back in America, and to make America great again, is our religion,” Mr Trump says. Judaeo-Christian values are “under attack, perhaps as never before”.
The Democrat vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, joked at a rally: “Trump had his branded Bibles printed in China. This dude will even outsource God. I don’t blame Trump for not noticing the ‘Made in China’ sticker. They put them on the inside, a part of the Bible that he’s never looked at.”
The state of Oklahoma was forced last week to change its specifications for Bibles in schools, in the wake of criticism that they were so narrowly defined that the only compliant edition was the Trump one. The state’s department of education had specified that Bibles in schools had to be the King James Version, bound in leather or leather-like material, and include the US Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Declaration of Independence. It is now specified that not all the documents must be provided under one binding.
A group of Roman Catholic nuns have begun a tour of 20 US cities calling on RCs and other “people of good will” to vote on a range of issues, including immigration, health care, wages, and an end to inequality and polarisation.
The Nuns on the Bus tour, organised by Network Advocates for Catholic Social Justice, seeks to get beyond partisanship and focus on gospel values. At events, the nuns encourage people to put their faith into action when voting.
Sister Sally Duffy, a Cincinatti member of the Sisters of Charity, said: “Hate has never made this country great. What makes our country great is love and compassion, and we can vote that in November.”