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Unapologetically Christian and Pro-life: U.S. Rep. Dares to Acknowledge Christianity as True Faith

Says really important that members of the church know people's stands" - "It's time that the churches get involved"

By John-Henry Westen

MIAMI, August 28, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Imagine a mainstream, popular, and many-time incumbent politician who is unafraid to acknowledge she is Christian and that the Christian faith is the one true faith.  Meet Katherine Harris, a Harvard grad, who after being elected to the Florida State Senate was made the state's last-elected secretary of state.  In 2003, Harris was sworn in as a U.S. Congressional Representative for Florida, and she is now running for election as a U.S. Senator for Florida.

In an interview with Florida Baptist Witness last week, Harris not only acknowledged her Christianity, but also suggested that all would be Christian if they knew the truth.  "Average citizens who are not Christians, because they don't know better," said Harris in the midst of answering a question.  The quote has her ideological opponents boiling over with rage.

Far from the 'I'm a Christian but . . .' line popularized by wayward Catholic politicians in both Canada and the United States, Harris, a Presbyterian by upbringing, says that her faith affects everything she does in her political life.  "In terms of my votes, my faith and my actions have to animate everything I do," she said. She added that she has sponsored and always supported pro-life and pro-family legislation and has a "100 percent voting record with the traditional values groups."

When asked about faith and politics Harris dives right into the heart of the issue.  "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," she said. "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."

Harris also counsels that it is imperative that Churches become involved in the political process.  "So it's really important that members of the church know people's stands," she said. "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."

Harris answers hard questions on life and family with ease and the self-assurance that comes from firm conviction.  "I do not support any civil rights actions with regard to homosexuality . . . I have voted in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment because we should not undermine the uniqueness of an institution that continues to serve as an essential thread in the fabric of our society." 

Asked, "Setting aside for the moment the public policy questions related to abortion, is abortion a moral evil? Why or why not?"  She replied simply, "Yes. Because it's a life, it's a life. Life begins at conception."

She wavered however on her public policy regarding abortion stating, "Clearly I would only, from a public policy standpoint, I would limit abortion to rape and life of the mother and incest, but for my personal standpoint, I would not have an abortion for any of those cases."

She is "adamantly" opposed to embryonic stem cell research and called the starvation-dehydration death of Terri Schiavo "unconscionable."

Speaking to the Baptists of Florida she urged them to vote for herself as a Christian.  "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," she warned.  "They can legislate sin. They can say that abortion is alright. They can vote to sustain gay marriage."

To contact Rep. Katherine Harris:
http://www.house.gov/formharris/issue.htm

See the full interview in the Florida Baptist:
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/6298.article

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