As we are well aware, Rep. Katherine Harris is carrying on a Quixotic effort to be the next U.S. Senator from Florida. As I diaried
back in March, Harris has tried to pitch her campaign to the conservative evangelical wing of her party, having been shunned by the party leadership. Back in March, when she pledged to spend her "entire $10 million forture" to win, Harris invoked some Biblical imagery:
"I am willing to take this widow's mite, this pearl of great price, and put everything on the line," she told Donvan. "No matter how much you have, are you willing to take what you have and sell it all for a great price?"
Harris has now given an
interview to the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly newsletter of the Florida State Baptist Convention. And she's got some interesting things to say about faith and politics...
What role do you think people of faith should play in politics and government?
The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren't involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we're going to have a nation of secular laws. That's not what our founding fathers intended and that's certainly isn't what God intended. So it's really important that members of the church know people's stands. It's really important that they get involved in campaigns. I said I'm going to run a campaign of integrity. I'm not going to run it like all of the campaigns that I've seen before.... And you know, it's hard to find people that are gonna behave that way in a campaign and be honorable that way in a campaign. But that's why we need the faithful and we need to take back this country. It's time that the churches get involved. Pastors, from the pulpit, can invite people to speak, not on politics, but of their faith. But they can discern, they can ask those people running for election, in the pulpit, what is your position on gay marriage? What is your position on abortion? That is totally permissible in 5013C organizations. They simply cannot endorse from the pulpit. And that's why I've gone to churches and I've spoken in four churches, five churches a day on Sunday and people line up afterwards because it's so important that they know. And if we don't get involved as Christians then how could we possibly take this back?
God picks our leaders. We, as voters, are merely pawns of God's divine plan for America. In 2000, when she did everything she could to discount the will of the voters of Florida (and the nation), she was installing God's choice in the White House.
BTW - I wonder if she believes that Bill Nelson was God's choice for U.S. Senator in 2000? I wonder if she'll think that when he wins again in 2006?
Why should Florida Baptists care about this primary election?
They should care about this election period. I will tell you that everywhere I go throughout the state and even the nation, people say the pollsters, the politicians and spiritually--that Florida is the forerunner state. That what happens in Florida sets the trend for what happens nationally. And with this election, if Bill Nelson wins, it's going to be a very frightening proposition in 2008 in the presidential elections because whoever wins Florida will win the presidency. And he'll be in a position to largely influence. No other candidate can beat Bill Nelson except for me. No one even has a chance because of name identification and fund raising abilities and things like that. But the real issue is why should Baptists care, why should people care? If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you're not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin. They can say that abortion is alright. They can vote to sustain gay marriage. And that will take western civilization, indeed other nations because people look to our country as one nation as under God and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don't know better, we are leading them astray and it's wrong.
This is so patronizing towards non-evangelical Christians, it's not really even worth picking apart.
Fortunately, this woman is polling 30% behind Nelson, and will never be a United States Senator.