If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, she will make history not just as the first woman, Black woman, and South Asian president but also as the person with the most religiously diverse background to ever hold the role.
Harris’s blend of influences—she was raised Hindu by her Indian mother, frequently attended church with neighbors while growing up, joined a Black Baptist Church as an adult, and married a Jewish man—showcases a broader, more diverse set of faith influences than has been typical among past presidential candidates. This diversity is also representative of a changing U.S. demographic landscape, where a growing number of people grow up in multi-faith households, and Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
Harris’s diverse religious background is therefore more than a personal narrative—it reflects a broader trend of increasing religious diversity in America. But the significance of her background is more than just its symbolic representation. In a moment when we are divided by identity politics and hyper-partisanship, it’s an opportunity to consider how engaging a diversity of traditions and experiences can inspire new forms of innovation and collaboration. By bridging different religious and cultural communities, Harris represents an opportunity to move past identity politics. She embodies the potential for fresh perspectives and solutions to emerge.
What does it mean to draw guidance and values—our identity even—not from one tradition, but from a variety of experiences and communities? How do we shape our priorities and values when influenced by diverse faith traditions? How can a community draw on the great diversity of its citizens? What new ideas, partnerships, and strategies can emerge out of that diversity?
Data shows that diversity is good for business. When you have a variety of people, perspectives, and backgrounds working together, better ideas emerge, and companies perform better. And if this is important for business, it’s essential for tackling the complex problems we face as communities, nations, and the world. Diversity surfaces better solutions and, among other forms of difference, faith diversity matters to developing and enacting those solutions.
So whatever our politics and whatever happens in this election cycle, let’s all be part of the Kamala moment. Let’s tap the religious and cultural diversity of our communities to find better solutions to the challenges we face. There are many individuals and organizations intentionally engaging America’s increasing religious diversity to champion innovative work and, in so doing, ensuring that diversity is an asset that strengthens our communities.
Check out some of our favorites below or look for a local interfaith group in your community. We have the opportunity to reshape our future with fresh perspectives, driving innovation so that all of us thrive in an increasingly diverse America.
Interfaith America believes that our nation’s religious diversity is a foundation of American strength. Using interfaith community building, they seek to support work in higher education, racial justice, faith and civic life, and more.
Tanenbaum works to celebrate the richness of humanity’s diversity and combat religious prejudice through multi-faith work in education, peacebuilding, health care, and business.
Tri-Faith Initiative is a one-of-a-kind, ambitious interfaith project that brings together in permanent residency a synagogue, church, mosque, and interfaith center on one 38-acre campus in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies operates in both the academic arena and the public square by working to advance interreligious dialogue and understanding. In a culture that has privatized religion, ICJS maintains that engaging inter-religiously in public is vital for a healthy democracy.