What does Kamala Harris believe, and why does she believe it? It’s a harder question to answer than one might think for someone who has been in national-level politics for almost a decade, and state politics for almost fifteen years before that. A survey of Harris’ historic comments on her religious beliefs — and what her supporters say about them — suggests that what matters is less the substance of her faith but its symbolism (and, perhaps more cynically, its alignment with the Democrat Party platform).
What Does Harris Believe?
Harris comes from a religiously diverse family background: her mother, a native of Tamil Nadu in southern India, was a Hindu until she met her future husband, Jamaican American Donald J. Harris, after which she converted to his Christianity. Nevertheless, Religion News Service (RNS) tells us, Harris’ mother “instilled in her two daughters a reverence for Hindu temples.” Moreover, as corporate media never tire of reminding us, the name Kamala means “lotus” in Sanskrit and has special significance in Hinduism, as it is “closely associated with Sri-Lakshmi: the goddess of sovereignty, auspiciousness, fecundity, wealth and good fortune.”
Raised in a Baptist church, Harris once wrote that her “earliest memories of the teachings of the Bible were of a loving God, a God who asked us to ‘speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves’ and to ‘defend the rights of the poor and needy.’” She elsewhere told RNS, “I can trace my belief in the importance of public service back
