jennifer-roberts Important Note: This essay is not meant to compare Vice President Kamala Harris to the deity of Jesus Christ. I am likening the humanity of Vice President Harris to the humanity of Jesus Christ and comparing them to the inhumanity of Donald Trump.
On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, I reflect on a political conversation that I had a few months ago with a fellow community member. We discussed Americans varied responses to presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and her opponent, Donald Trump. We talked about the unmistakable contrast between their characters and how their history of public service couldn’t be more different. At one point in the conversation, this person said to me, “Remember, the people also chose to free Barrabas instead of Jesus.” This comment instantly made me reflect on the choices that we make and the motivations behind them.
For anyone not familiar with the biblical reference to Barrabas, let me bring you up to speed. After Jesus had been arrested by the Roman soldiers, jailed, mocked and beaten, he was brought before the council of elders of the people, the chief priests and teachers of the law and questioned about his identity as the Son of God.
After this questioning, Jesus was taken before Pontious Pilate and according to Luke 23: 2, “And they began to accuse him saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responds in the same verse saying, “Yes, it is as you say.” Verses 4 and 5 go on to say, “Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man. But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by this teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” Finding no fault with Jesus, Pilate sent Jesus to Jerusalem to be questioned by Herod.
According to Luke 23:11-25, “Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends – before this they had been enemies. Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. With one voice, they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barrabas to us! (Barrabas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder). Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him! For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him. But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.”
Hopefully you see the parallels that I see between the humanity of Jesus Christ and the humanity of Vice President Harris versus the inhumanity of Donald Trump and the inhumanity of Barrabas. I am not suggesting that the choices in this presidential election are a mirror image of the choice that the Jews had to make between freeing Jesus or freeing Barrabas. However, I am examining the choices that the Jews made then and the choice that Americans are making now.
It was tradition for Pontious Pilate to free one prisoner during Passover. On this occasion, the people were given a choice about who would go free. The American people have a choice in electing the country’s next leader. The differences between Jesus and Barrabas could not have been more stark just like Vice President Harris and Donald Trump. Their reputations of public service could not have been more different and yet the people chose to free Barrabas.
Jesus was a Jew. He shared the same heritage with the people who voted to have him crucified. Some of them had watched him grow up; these were not strangers and for three and half years, he had lived and served among them. He had taught them, healed them, fed them and comforted them. He had personal conversations with them and had performed incredible miracles that confirmed his identity as the son of God. His track record of public service was undeniable. Even after all of this, the people still called for his crucifixion.
On the other hand, Barrabas, had been imprisoned for murder and for his involvement in an insurrection against the Roman government. He had nothing to earn the people’s vote and yet he secured it.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus taught about and embodied peace, unity and love. He often taught in parables about the kingdom of God comparing it to familiar images and experiences. He offered freedom and salvation to children, adults, religious leaders, Jews and Gentiles, anyone and everyone who dared to believe in Him, not just a select few who knew the scriptures. He reprimanded religious leaders for their hypocrisy, challenged people’s thinking and disrupted tradition. Some religious leaders despised Jesus for offering salvation to people that they had othered and deemed unworthy. They considered him a blasphemer for claiming that He was the Son of God (even though this is who He is). Community members were better off after having spent time in his presence. And yet, the people still voted to free Barrabas, instead of Jesus, the Son of God.
The choices in this presidential election cannot be clearer and their visions for this country cannot be more different. There is no perfect candidate and there never will be. The only perfect person to walk the earth was Jesus Christ. However, in this race, we have a candidate in Vice President Harris, who is not only qualified to be president of the United States, she also has a reputation of creating more equitable lives for all Americans and for holding governmental institutions accountable. In Vice President Harris, we have a candidate who is smart, capable, respectful and understands how democracy works. She is committed to perfecting the flawed union that is America instead of working to destroy it.
Like Jesus vision for all of humanity, her vision for the United States is inclusive not exclusive. Vice President Harris pledges to create and support opportunities for people to exercise personal freedom and to champion policies that benefit all Americans not just a select few. While on Earth, Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him. He never used fear to goad people into submission. He told the truth even when the truth was hard to bear and He never robbed people of their ability to choose.
By stark contrast, Donald Trump is not fit to be president. There is no contest between his qualifications and those of Vice President Harris. He is a liar, a racist, an inciter of violence, a misogynist and a homophobe. He has a long track record of spreading lies publicly, practicing wide scale racism, sexually abusing women and verbally abusing anyone he pleases. He surrounds himself with people who echo his deep-seated beliefs about the United States being a country for white people and how there is no room for anyone else. His campaign hinges upon lies, hate, fear and policies meant to turn back the hands of time to a not-so-distant past in which Black people were the target of racial apartheid that was supported by the law. His rhetoric is littered with lies and initiatives that promote and enable him and other Americans to openly practice racism, exclusion, control, fearmongering and othering with immunity.
Some people claim that they are voting for Donald Trump because of his economic policies. I think to myself, “What economic policies and how will they benefit all Americans?” There are no economic policies that can justify his disdain for his fellow human beings. Trump is dangerous. He is not an anonymous troll on social media hiding behind a computer screen; he is a political candidate running for the highest office in the land – again.
Despite these very clear differences in the characters and reputations of Vice President Harris and Donald Trump, millions of Americans have casted and will cast their ballot for him. What does this say about Americans? It’s dangerous enough for Americans to be exposed to Donald Trump’s depraved thinking; it is exponentially more perilous for him to have a following of millions of teachers, principals, school bus drivers, construction workers, store clerks, entrepreneurs, and medical professionals to name a few who believe in his way of thinking and believe that he is the best choice to lead this country.
It would be one thing for Donald Trump to be a party of one shouting into the atmosphere with no one listening, but what does this cult following say about what our neighbors really think about the type of country they want to inhabit? The type of neighborhood they want to live in? The type of school they want their children to attend?
In my opinion, the support of Donald Trump is very telling. It tells me that there are millions of people who are choosing to potentially live in a country in which control, hate and fear are normalized and acceptable behaviors and that they are OK with this. A country in which lies prevail over truth and that freedom is in jeopardy unless you are a rich, white man.
I casted my ballot for Vice President Harris last month. It is my earnest prayer that she will become our next president. But even more than my desire, I pray for God’s will to be done. I know that even if people choose Barrabas, that God is still in control. This is the only thing that gives me solace.
If Donald Trump fairly wins the presidential election, it will be a reminder of how many of my neighbors are complicit in the evil that he represents and the harm that he inflicts. It will be a reminder of how many so-called Christians would have been jeering at Ruby Bridges in 1960 while she tried to go to school each day. It will be a reminder of how many people would have turned a blind eye to Japanese Americans who were treated as enemies and forced into internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It will be a reminder of how many people would have been the silent passengers on the bus the evening that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. It would be a reminder of who would have been fighting on the side of the confederate army during the Civil War. Ultimately, it will be a reminder of who we really are when no one is watching and we are given the chance to choose freedom.
