Last week, Taylor Swift wrote to her 285 million followers endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Posing with her cat (a swipe at JD Vance’s reference to “childless cat ladies” running the country), she cited LGBTQ issues and abortion as primary reasons for her support.
According to NPR, her single post drove more than 400,000 visits to the Vote.Gov site within 24 hours. Back in May, 34% of Gen Z respondents said they were “more likely” or “significantly more likely” to vote for a candidate she endorsed (interestingly, 40% said the same for Beyoncé). Though some also said they wouldn’t vote for Harris because of Swift, there’s no denying her opinion has influence.
As young Christians head to the polls this November—many for the first time—they face a tough decision: how to vote their values in an election with two deeply-flawed candidates, a culture hostile to Christian beliefs, and the feeling that all eyes are on them. The more celebrities who endorse Harris, the harder that choice feels.
The question is, why does the opinion of a 34-year-old pop star matter this much?
Politics as Entertainment
In his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, author Neil Postman traced how entertainment fundamentally changed politics. In the age of TV, he argued, civic discourse drifted away from ideas toward something louder: images, impressions, and emotions.
As evidence, Postman highlighted the Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858. After Stephen A. Douglas finished his initial three-hour speech, Abraham Lincoln reminded the audience that it was already five o’clock in the evening:
He proposed, therefore, that the audience go home, have dinner, and return refreshed for four more hours of talk. The audience amiably agreed.
Postman asked the obvious question: what kind of audience would relish a seven-hour debate?
The answer is one whose minds were shaped by the dominant medium of the day: books. Whereas television communicates through images, books are always about ideas—and the crowds in 1858 were ready to hear them. By contrast, Postman argued, debates today boil down to who can give the better impression in five minutes or less.
Almost forty years after Postman’s book, the line between “entertainer” and “politician” is blurrier than ever on both sides of the aisle. For instance, it’s easy to forget that the 45th President of the United States once tackled someone in a WWE match. In an age where an increasing number of people get their news from TikTok, we can expect the political impact of entertainers to keep growing—and for more of our politicians to be entertainers in disguise.
Enter Taylor Swift. She might not know much about tax reform, but her status as a cultural icon means she sets the tone for what is normal. The music video to
her 2019 song “You Need to Calm Down” is a great example: not so subtly calling anyone who disagrees with the LGBTQ agenda an illiterate bigot.
Unthinkable opinions
The blurring of pop culture and politics only heightens the unease many feel about speaking their true convictions. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), more than half (56%) of college students worry about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they say.
Most shocking, according to Barna, is that 62% of Gen Z adults say they feel held back from expressing who they are authentically. That’s ironic for a culture obsessed with speaking one’s truth.
Part of the problem is moral relativism, a philosophy that starts out emphasizing compassion. If nobody is ultimately “right” and nobody is “wrong,” the argument goes, we should treat each other with tolerance. But concepts like “right” and “wrong” are as optional for human beings as gravity. Without a moral center, people fall for groupthink.
The Asch Conformity Experiments of the 1950s are a great example. In these studies, every participant but one was told to mislabel a series of lines (e.g., line A is longer than line C). Faced with group pressure, the researchers asked if individuals would hold to the truth. The results were sobering. Almost 75% of participants, despite seeing the correct answer with their own eyes, went along with the group at least once.
The concept applies today. How many people dare to go against the grain when it feels like every moral, decent, or popular person is against you? For Christians who truly believe in the sanctity of life and God’s design for sexuality, this election presents an especially difficult challenge.
The Lesser of Two Evils?
Ironically, one piece of wisdom comes from Taylor Swift’s political “coming out” post back in 2018: “For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.”
She’s right.
Christians often agonize over Christ’s command not to idolize politics while still fighting for the rights and liberties of our neighbor. For many, the decision paralysis leads to non-action. But Scripture is clear: Christians can’t merely “do justice and love mercy” inwardly. To quote a line attributed to Deitrich Bonhoeffer, “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
In a fallen world, Christians often have to make decisions in broken systems between immoral candidates. The best we can do is work for the good of our neighbor while remembering that, in Chuck Colson’s words:
The kingdom of God will never arrive on Air Force One.
The first and best step to clear thinking is courage.
To that end, even the Asch experiment left some room for hope. In a separate group, researchers changed the parameters. This time, an additional participant was left as a “true partner,” someone who would describe the lines accurately. After seeing just one other person answer truthfully, the percentage of subjects willing to conform despite the evidence dropped to just 5%.
If the current political landscape feels bleak, it’s important to remember that there is a path for faithful engagement. We can be the “true partner,” having the courage to speak up for unborn life or against the curtailing of free speech, even when nobody else does. Even creating an atmosphere of classical tolerance, where we respect people while encouraging the free exchange of ideas, can be a redemptive act in the face of cancel culture.
This November, let’s take our political cues from God and leave the songwriting to the tortured poets department.
By Kasey Leander
To learn more about wise and effective political engagement as a Christian, check out Should Christians Avoid Politics? Debunking Four Myths That Keep Christians Sidelined by Dr. Jeff Myers, president of Summit Ministries. Should Christians Avoid Politics will show you, your small group, or your family how a strong biblical worldview empowers you to have deep dialogue.
Begin to rethink your role in a culture of partisan divides as Dr. Jeff Myers exposes four lies that silence Christians, keeping them sidelined in politics. Get a fresh perspective that encourages critical thinking and engagement. Whether you’re outspoken or reserved, Dr. Jeff has an encouragement for you.