JD Vance repeats comments he wants wife Usha to convert to Christianity | JD Vance

J.D. Vance further reinforces his comments that he wants his wife, Usha Vance, to convert to Christianity; These words sparked a political reaction from some quarters.

At an event held with Turning Point USA at the University of Mississippi to commemorate the conservative group’s slain founder, Charlie Kirk, the US vice president was quizzed by an audience member about how he sees the connections between American patriotism and Christianity.

“Why do we make Christianity one of the most important things you have in common to be one of us? To show that I love America as much as you do?” the audience member asked after pointing out that Vance’s wife, Usha, is Hindu and that they are raising their children in an interfaith marriage.

Vance said his wife grew up in a Hindu family but “not a particularly religious family” and noted that when he met his wife they would both consider themselves agnostics or atheists.

Vance converted to Catholicism in his 30s after growing up in a loosely Evangelical family. He was baptized at the church in 2019, just as he was becoming a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, who chose Vance as his running mate when he successfully runs for the second presidency in 2024.

“My views on public policy and what optimal government should look like are very consistent with Catholic social teaching,” said Vance, the former U.S. senator from Ohio. in question at the time of his baptism. “I saw a real overlap between what I wanted to see and what the Catholic church wanted to see.”

At the Turning Point USA event, Vance said that he and his wife eventually decided to raise their children as Christians.

“Our two children go to Christian school. Our eight-year-old had his first communion a year ago. That’s how we decided to enter into our arrangement,” Vance said to applause. “As I said to her, as I have said publicly, and as I will now say in front of 10,000 of my closest friends: Do I hope that, in the end, she will be influenced in some way by the same thing that I was impressed with in church? Yes. Honestly, I hope so, because I believe in the Christian gospel, and I hope that eventually my wife will come to see it the same way.”

“But if not,” Vance continued, “God says everyone has free will, so that’s fine with me. That’s something you can figure out with your friends, with your family, with your favorite person.”

Usha Vance publicly stated that she does not intend to convert to Christianity. In June, she told conservative blogger Meghan McCain that the family makes church “a family experience, but the kids know I’m not Catholic.”

“They have a lot of access to Hindu tradition, from the books we give them to the things we showed them when we visited India recently and some of the religious elements of that visit,” Usha Vance said.

The executive director of the Hindu American Foundation criticized Vance’s remarks: tells The New York Times reported that the vice president “basically said… [Usha] It’s just not enough.”

“This means a lot of uncertainty in society,” Suhag Shukla told the media. “This only increased the fears further.”

Vance following his comments on Wednesday replied to a social media post (which has since been removed) that read “it’s weird to publicly throw your wife’s religion under the bus just so it’s momentarily accepted by idiots,” a term used for some far-right extremists.

Vance called the comment “disgusting” and an example of “anti-Christian bigotry.” He said his Christian faith “tells me that the Bible is true and good for people.”

“[Usha] He encouraged me to reconnect with my faith years ago. “He is not a Christian and has no intention of converting, but like many people who experience interfaith marriage or any interfaith relationship, I hope that one day he will see things the way I do,” he said. wrote.

“No matter what, I will continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith, life and everything else because she is my wife.

“Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have many consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with other people. This is completely normal, and anyone who tells you otherwise has an agenda.”