JD Vance: The Gospel Is ‘Good for Human Beings’
After J.D. Vance said he hopes wife Usha converts to Christianity, some people criticized his comments. In a now-deleted social media post, someone said it was “weird” for the vice president to “throw your wife’s religion under the bus, in public, for a moment’s acceptance” by right-wing extremists.
Responding online, Vance called that comment a “disgusting” example of “anti-Christian bigotry.” He defended his decision to talk about his interfaith marriage, saying, “I’m a public figure, and people are curious.”
About his desire for Usha to convert, Vance said:
My wife…is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago. She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage—or any interfaith relationship—I hope she may one day see things as I do. Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.
Vance concluded, “Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have many consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with other people. That is a completely normal thing, and anyone who’s telling you otherwise has an agenda.”
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Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, accused Vance of implying that his wife’s faith is inferior. “If you were any ordinary pastor, then whatever,” she said. “But he’s not the pastor in chief; he’s the vice president wanting to be president.”
The U.S. Hindu community is already facing “a lot of uncertainty,” including anti-immigration bias, Shukla noted, and Vance’s comments added “fuel to those fears.”
For historical and cultural reasons, some people with Indian heritage object to proselytizing by non-Hindus. But Rami Reddy Mutyala, chairman of a Hindu temple in Southern California that Usha’s parents sometimes attend, said adults can and should choose their own faith. “Even I cannot force my children to convert to Hinduism,” he said.
