How the ‘God gap’ is shaping Washington State votes in presidential election
WHITE CENTER, Wash. - An outdoor Spanish-language Mass and festival might not seem the best place to look for supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Democrats have traditionally enjoyed a strong advantage among Hispanic voters, including those of faith.
But Democrats' hold on Hispanic Catholics, as well as other religious people of color, seems to be slipping lately, said Ryan Burge, an Eastern Illinois University associate professor who studies the intersection of politics and religion. He sees that as indicative of what he calls a growing "God gap," with many people of faith, particularly Christians, leaning conservative while the nonreligious and unaffiliated trend Democratic.
Some corroborating evidence comes from the Rev. Jose Alvarez of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, who last month walked in an emerald robe through a crowd of hundreds and delivered the outdoor Mass on a stage shared with a mariachi band. In an interview afterward, Alvarez said he detects among his predominantly Latino parishioners "a huge preference for Republicans in this election." He attributes that largely to faith-driven values, such as opposition to abortion.
Yet, interviews with attendees at the White Center event tell a complicated story - as do interviews with dozens of other people of faith around Washington and more than 600 responses to a Seattle Times call to readers to share how faith is shaping their views on the presidential election.
Faith can lead in a straight line to a favored candidate, often Trump. But sometimes it's Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, seen by many as more in tune with religious values around caring for the poor and marginalized.
And, frequently, religious values mingle with secular opinions on a winding path that can leave people conflicted. The precise role of faith can be ambiguous. And theological teachings vary by religion - Judaism and Hinduism don't universally condemn abortion, for instance - offering different prisms through which to view political wrestling.
"In general, it's poorly understood how faith influences politics," said Cheryl Kaiser, a University of Washington psychology professor who with a colleague at a Christian university is embarking on a research project to study the matter.
What people are just beginning to understand is that politics sometimes influences faith too, or at least how people religiously identify, according to Burge. He said polls show some people declaring themselves evangelical even if they don't go to church or attend, say, a Catholic one. "Because evangelical doesn't mean I believe in Jesus. It means I'm Republican," he said, referring largely to white evangelicals.
Others are turning away from evangelicalism because of that precise equation. Many parishioners at one Bellevue church now refer to themselves as "postevangelical."
"Against God's will"
Among those at the White Center festival, standing in line to buy pozole, horchata and other food and drink, or watching cowboy-hatted men ride horses in a makeshift arena, attitudes toward immigration often surfaced when talking about the presidential race. Many said they were immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants.
Mercedes Garcia said she was looking for who can offer immigrants the best options for health care, education and housing. Not Trump, she opined, adding: "He is saying all immigrants are the worst people in the world."
The former president has said, without evidence, that many people crossing the border illegally come from emptied jails and "insane asylums," and he has called for mass deportations.
Garcia declined to discuss abortion, other than to say it's important to be a good Catholic but political decisions must be based on more than that.
For Maria Isidro-Sodo the calculus is different. She, too, disagreed with Trump on immigration. Still, she was leaning toward voting for him.
She said she is influenced by her beliefs about abortion and transgender issues, calling pregnancy terminations and "gender changes" "not right" and "against God's will."
Because of Trump's appointment of conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court, he takes credit for the justices' 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Harris, in contrast, passionately defends abortion protections and argues recent state bans on the procedure endanger women's health.
Many also see Harris as a supporter of transgender rights, in part because of her role in the Biden administration and its lawsuits over anti-trans state laws. Trump suggests transgender care is being pushed on children, and has falsely stated students are receiving surgery at schools.
Other considerations emerged at the White Center event. Some said they were disillusioned with Democrats, either because of their failure when in power to enact immigration reform, or because of the way they felt the economy, with rising inflation, had soured under President Joe Biden.
German Marcial, who owns a small trucking company, said he had $3,000 or $4,000 in his pocket when Trump was president. "Now," he said, "all that money is gone."
Evangelical and torn
There's ample reason to associate white evangelicals with the GOP. A recent Pew Research Center poll found 82% of respondents nationwide who identified that way leaned toward voting for Trump.
Some, however, are torn. Lyle Moss, a retired financial adviser in Bellevue, for instance, keeps a score card of sorts in which he rates Trump and Harris on more than a dozen issues. On character, an important matter for many people of faith, Moss said there's no contest: Harris is the clear winner.
"Married, stepmother of two. No prosecutions against her," he wrote, going on to list the elected offices she's held: California attorney general, U.S. senator, vice president.
"Trump has been married three times, has been bankrupt six times," Moss continued on his scorecard, which also refers to the former president's multiple felony convictions for falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Moss noted Trump was also found civilly liable for sexual assault and has only served in one public office, that of president.
Character is not the only issue in which Harris comes out ahead in Moss' eyes. Explaining his views by phone, he said he considers the vice president a much better choice on national security because of Trump's friendliness toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine and launched an ongoing war.
Despite all that, Moss was undecided in late August. Abortion weighed heavily on his mind. "You're talking about hundreds of thousands of lives that are being eliminated on an annual basis," he said.
The presidential debate this month clarified things. "Harris did a great job," Moss said by email, but her "unwavering response to the rights of women vs the rights of unborn babies makes me feel like I must, as a Christian, support Trump, as much as I don't care for the man."
Aaron Carpenter, lead pastor at evangelical Soundside Church in Tacoma, concluded differently after the debate. "I just cannot vote for Donald Trump," he said.
Already, Carpenter had noticed a level of mudslinging by Trump that he considered out of bounds for its "viciousness and vindictiveness." At the debate, Carpenter saw the former president get increasingly angry. "It just devolved into rage," he said.
"I wouldn't entrust small things to somebody like that," he said, never mind the country. He noted Bible passages warning against befriending an angry person, "lest thou learn his ways."
Still, Carpenter found Harris wanting, not for religious reasons but because he viewed her answers as lacking substance. "That's why I say I'm still undecided," said Carpenter, who was weighing whether to vote for Harris or a write-in candidate.
The debate also reinforced negatives views of Trump held by John Bjorge, lead pastor of First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach in Shoreline. The way the former president talked about Haitians eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio - despite a city manager saying there were no credible reports of such - was a particular turn off.
"Lutherans have always had a very strong sense of justice and doing things that will care for those who are most vulnerable in our society," Bjorge said. That includes refugees, the pastor said. A group of women meets weekly at his church to make quilts for refugees around the world, distributed by Lutheran World Relief.
Bjorge said he intended to vote for Harris. He acknowledged some consider her light on policy but said he trusts her to bring in good people to rectify that. Another plus: Harris' vice-presidential running mate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Lutheran, seems to Bjorge to embrace the denomination's charitable values.
Catapulted out of evangelicalism
Over the last decade, many congregants at Common Good Church in Bellevue have reevaluated how they see themselves religiously, said Royce Yuen, one of the church's founding pastors.
Primarily Asian Americans, the parishioners found themselves out of alignment with conservative politics. Some didn't like Trump, not least because of the way as president he seemed to blame Asians for COVID-19 by calling it the "China flu" or "kung flu."
As the pandemic spawned a wave of anti-Asian attacks and racial justice protesters flooded streets nationwide following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, some felt conservative evangelicals were not highlighting racism enough, Yuen said.
Common Good began to examine how it might be contributing to racism against Black people, which led to a discussion about its policies toward others facing discrimination, namely those who are LGBTQ+. The church resolved to fully embrace everyone.
"That issue, in and of itself, kind of catapults you as a church outside of the realm of even being considered evangelicals," Yuen said. Many members now refer to themselves as "post-" or "ex-" evangelicals. And with that comes a more liberal bent, including what Yuen believes is prevailing support for Harris.
Racial justice and identity also figure into support for Harris at Mt. Calvary Christian Center Church of God in Christ. "Our community is lit up," said Bishop Reggie Witherspoon.
"If we make it a theological issue alone, then we're going to miss it," Witherspoon said of what's motivating the excitement. The evangelical Central District church's parishioners are predominantly Black. Harris is "an African American woman," Witherspoon said. "She knows what we've been through."
Different faiths, different views
Seventy percent of Americans identify as Christians, according to 2020 Census data. So they cumulatively have the most sway, said Burge, the Eastern Illinois professor. But people of other faiths are also carefully deliberating.
Many Indian American Hindus feel an affinity for Harris, said Sital Kalantry, a Seattle University law professor and director of the RoundGlass India Center, which conducts research on India and Indian Americans. The vice president, whose father immigrated from Jamaica and mother from India, has said she grew up going to a Black Baptist church and Hindu temple. Usha Vance, the wife of Trump running mate JD Vance, is Hindu, but that's seen as less important to voters of the same faith given the minor role she could play in the White House, Kalantry said.
Some have questions about where Harris stands on India's Hindu nationalist government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said. Trump has talked in glowing terms about Modi, recently calling him "a fantastic man," despite import tariffs the former president criticized.
Abortion may play less of a role in political choices for Hindus. While some classical Hindu texts frown on the practice, it is not generally forbidden in the religion's modern teachings, Kalantry said.
Jewish teachings on the subject also differ from Christian precepts. The Talmud, a compendium of religious commentaries, characterizes a fetus as "mere water" before 40 days of gestation and doesn't prohibit ending a pregnancy during that period, according to Brandeis University scholars Reuven Kimelman and Lisa Fishbayn Joffe.
After that, according to a Q&A with Kimelman on the university's website," "life takes precedence over potential life, but only if potential life is threatening life." Reform and Conservative Jews tend to have a more expansive view of what constitutes a threat than Orthodox Jews, said Joffe in a companion Q&A.
Linda Bookey, board president of Kol Ami: A Center for Jewish Life in Kirkland, cited her understanding of Jewish law when explaining why she supports abortion protections.
That's one reason Bookey said she will vote for Harris. Others, she said, include concern about immigrant and LBGTQ+ rights, and her fear of a slide toward Christian nationalism should Trump be elected.
The elephant in the room, for many Jews and Muslims, is the continually escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Bookey said she believes Harris, who has proclaimed support for Israel's right to self-defense but recognized devastating suffering among Palestinians, has a more nuanced understanding of the region than Trump, who calls himself Israel's "protector."
But Aziz Junejo despairs of both candidates, saying neither is offering a way to end the bloodshed and make Muslims like him feel they are voting their values around justice and human rights.
Junejo, a Seattle sales professional and former host of a cable TV program called "Focus on Islam," considered writing "uncommitted" in the presidential race as a protest vote. A national movement to vote uncommitted because of firm American support for Israel during the war arose during the Democratic primaries. Leaders of that movement said last week they would not endorse Harris but urged people not to vote for Trump or a third party-candidate who could inadvertently help the former president get elected.
Yet, Junejo recently decided to vote for Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate.
Stein, who is Jewish, has forcefully condemned Israel's barrage on Gaza, causing the death of tens of thousands, after Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel and took hundreds of hostages.
Junejo has voted for Republicans and Democrats but never the Green party. This election will be the first.
This story was originally published September 28, 2024, 3:00 AM.
