Justice is Love by Another Name

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for to write a new American story, to find a way to build fierce love in the world…We must connect across our differences and build strategies for a better tomorrow for the children we are called to love.” – Fierce Love

Hi love,

Are you tired of soundbites? So much election coverage is reduced to 8-second video clips, referendums on the candidates’ personalities, “gotcha moments,” and color commentary. Listen, I’m not saying these details aren’t relevant—that it’s not illuminating when J.D. Vance refers to women without children as “weird cat ladies,” that we don’t learn something about Tim Walz by how he lovingly parents his disabled son, and I’m filled with just as much joy as anyone watching Kamala dance. But elections are about more than the individual personalities involved. They’re also about the policy platforms each party brings, the implications for how those laws would affect our lives.

Particularly as Christians, the Bible explicitly tells us that we should judge rulers by their actions, particularly how their laws affect the poorest and most vulnerable people. “Those who oppress the poor insult their maker,” the book of Proverbs notes. “Those who are kind to the needy honor God.” Jesus puts the situation even more plainly. In Matthew 25, he tells the disciples that when we feed the hungry, heal the sick, and clothe the naked those actions (or their absence) are how we treat Jesus himself. Scripture is filled with verses that echo Jesus’ focus: Instructions in Leviticus to welcome and treat migrants in the same way we embrace citizens, Isaiah’s condemnation of “those who make unjust laws,” Amos’ fiery words about rulers who “sell the poor for silver.” The Bible is deeply concerned with rulers’ actions because, to quote Proverbs again, “When the righteous are in power, the people rejoice. But when the wicked rule, the people suffer.”

While there are clear and significant differences between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’ personalities, the chasm that separates their policies is even wider. Harris is promising to fight corporate greed that’s driving up food prices and to lower taxes on working families, Trump wants more tax cuts for rich folks like himself. Harris wants to build millions of new homes to address the housing crisis, while Trump scapegoats immigrants for a problem they didn’t create. The Vice President is promising to codify abortion access as national law, whereas the former President orchestrated stealing millions of people’s bodily autonomy. Harris has a comprehensive plan to address climate change, Trump wrongly claims that climate science is a hoax. Kamala personally understands what it’s like to grow up in an immigrant family and the challenges Black women face every damn day—and offers tangible support. Trump calls migrants “animals” and has spent the past weeks making racist attacks about the Vice President’s ethnic identity while offering nothing.

In Fierce Love, I talk about our collective responsibility to birth the country we deserve. “Each of us has the power to change the world around us, to build a more just society, to be the change we seek,” I write. “How we behave with friends and families, the stories shared in social media, conversations in the marketplace, how we vote and where we take a stand—these all testify to the values we have.” And we all live within systems that determine what kind of choices are available—laws that can either help bring justice closer or push it further away. So, the next two months, my challenge to all of us is: How do we bring these staggering policy differences into the cultural conversation? Instead of talking with a friend about the latest thing a candidate said, tell them about a policy proposal that excites you. When you spend time with family, describe how proposed policies would affect your lives. Volunteer to knock on doors and, when you do, ask what issues are affecting your neighbors—then discuss laws that could make a difference. Let’s help each other fully understand what’s at stake this November.

We aren’t just acting for ourselves. Ubuntu love demands we understand that we are inextricably bound to our neighbor—but also to every generation that comes next. God gave humans agency so that we can build beloved community together. Active participation to shape who governs us is an essential part of that work. When I think about that responsibility, I think about my great-uncle George registering voters in Ruleville, Mississippi—a decade before the Civil Rights Act. He risked his life to nurture true democracy because he knew that legislation matters, that how we engage our politics is an expression of our faith. We don’t have to risk our lives to knock on doors but make no mistake: The consequences of this election are life-and-death.

Let’s choose abundant life this election.

Jacqui