JD Vance Catholic Convert

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

I always think of this tweet: https://x.com/agraybee/status/1537869930242113536

Every lifelong Catholic I've ever met is like "I think we're supposed to give this food to poor people" and every adult convert is like "the Archon of Constantinople's epistle on the Pentacostine rites of the eucharist clearly states women shouldn't have driver's licenses."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most Catholics I know (like maybe 70% of a large number) are not fans of Trump. Lots of Catholics are pretty liberal.

I think Vance was not a bad pick for Trump ... and I can see some of my older Catholic relatives being like, "All right, he'll rein Trump in ... he's more reasonable." They'll go from "maybe Biden" to "maybe Trump."

That’s the opposite reaction I had. Trump seems to think that he’s got this in the bag so he went with an ultra-MAGA sycophant. Of the final 3, Rubio or Burgum would have been much more of the “adult in the room”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

I always think of this tweet: https://x.com/agraybee/status/1537869930242113536

Every lifelong Catholic I've ever met is like "I think we're supposed to give this food to poor people" and every adult convert is like "the Archon of Constantinople's epistle on the Pentacostine rites of the eucharist clearly states women shouldn't have driver's licenses."

I'm the one you quoted. I'm a convert myself, because it was important to me that we be able to attend church as a family, and Catholicism was more important to DH than Episcopalianism was to me. So, there are definitely some more liberal converts.

But yes, there are a lot of converts who fit that description perfectly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi wife is Hindu

His wife very carefully states she was raised Hindu. I haven’t seen anything about her current practices or beliefs, not that they should matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well he is now in a position where he will have to speak on pedophile issue--should the church lose its tax exempt status?

Maybe he can also take a position on the appalling corruption and abuse of students in publicly funded facilities of all kinds, including but not limited to schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

The Catholic Church has not lasted for millennia by adopting every passing trend of the moment.

One could argue that cradle Catholics are simply lazy and Catholic by inertia whereas converts are intentionally pursuing the core beliefs.

One could argue that loving your neighbor is a core belief. Most cradle Catholics I know value it highly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

The Catholic Church has not lasted for millennia by adopting every passing trend of the moment.

One could argue that cradle Catholics are simply lazy and Catholic by inertia whereas converts are intentionally pursuing the core beliefs.

Support for refugees, care for the poor, and workers’ rights are not passing trends of the moment. Trump’s whole ethos is that self-sacrifice is for suckers — like paying taxes and serving in the military—and that the mark of a successful person is who has a bigger house with a bigger golf course and a golder toilet. It’s really the opposite of Christianity in some many ways—he’s calling people to praise him because of his material success, which he sees are the greatest marker of success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

I’ve seen estimates as high as 54% Catholic vote for Trump. Most articles seem to say about 50%. Although this one says 59% for those who attend mass regularly:
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/08/31/pew-survey-trump-biden-catholics-241310

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He wrote about his conversion here. https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/how-i-joined-the-resistance

This link was very interesting. I will vote for Biden regardless. However, someone who thinks this much about religion can't only be an opportunist. At least he reads books. J.D. Vance seems far less dangerous than Trump because his brain is in proper working order. I'm afraid that both Trump and Biden are losing it. They both lapse into incoherence similar to my relative with early stage dementia. It is truly alarming.

[Anonymous]

There is a great disparity between those of us who are Catholic (and attend mass every Sunday and even weekday mass) and those who identify as Catholic but are Easter and Christmas mass attendees, if that. Only the first group are truly Catholic as we follow the tenets of the catechism. So stating that a certain percent of Catholics support or voted for Biden is not accurate. The majority of devout Catholics will support the candidate who follows church teachings on abortion and traditional marriage (in this case, Trump/Vance).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He seems like a sort of sad figure in that there was a lot missing in his life growing up and he’s been looking for ways to fill that hole. He does seem like an opportunist so I’m not confident that he didn’t choose conversion in part due to the political advantage, but evangelicalism might have served him better there. At any rate, I find the Trunp policies and attitudes/rhetoric to be entirely antithetical to Catholic teaching,so I can’t be impressed by the faith of any Catholic that hitches his wagon to Trump.

Of all the things about the Catholic Church that I find most disappointing, the Catholic support of Trump is near the top of the list. If the majority of the faithful are voting for this, I think that the Church is failing to effectively communicate Jesus’s message. I find it really depressing. WWJD? Not be anywhere near Trump, that’s for sure.

52% of Catholics voted for Biden in the last election. I think that's still depressingly low, but your statement that I bolded is false.

I will say that in my experience, there are many converts to Catholicism who are attracted to what they see as a structure and an emphasis on rules, who can be far more rigid and conservative than the majority of cradle Catholics. They tend to bring the worst parts of Evangelism with them when they join the church, and it's a bad combination.

This! 100%. My family is Catholic as far back as I can trace; from Irish immigrants. I don’t count people like JD Vance as real Catholics. The Pope himself has called American Catholics like Vance. They don’t represent true Catholicism in any way. https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/pope-francis-blasts-reactionary-american-catholics-who-oppose-church-reform

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a great disparity between those of us who are Catholic (and attend mass every Sunday and even weekday mass) and those who identify as Catholic but are Easter and Christmas mass attendees, if that. Only the first group are truly Catholic as we follow the tenets of the catechism. So stating that a certain percent of Catholics support or voted for Biden is not accurate. The majority of devout Catholics will support the candidate who follows church teachings on abortion and traditional marriage (in this case, Trump/Vance).

No, you don’t speak for all Catholics (nor do you get to decide who is a true Catholic). Maybe you should reread Luke 18:9–14. Jesus warned about people like you. It’s actually the perfect metaphor for Trump Catholics. Washington DC area Trump Catholics do not speak for all Catholics. A lot of Catholics here (with exception of churches like Holy Trinity) believe that it’s okay to cage children, to turn immigrants away, to have affairs with P0rN stars and then lie about it, to neglect our poor and elderly, to use the Bible as a prop holding it upside down while gassing peaceful protestors, and selling Bibles as a blasphemous political prop like they were a cheap Trump steak or NFT of Trump dressed like Superman. We are from the Northeast where Catholics still believe in Jesus and his teachings to care for others. So do the Jesuits and the Pope himself. It’s sad that so many area churches have become so political and have turned their back on the teachings of Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a great disparity between those of us who are Catholic (and attend mass every Sunday and even weekday mass) and those who identify as Catholic but are Easter and Christmas mass attendees, if that. Only the first group are truly Catholic as we follow the tenets of the catechism. So stating that a certain percent of Catholics support or voted for Biden is not accurate. The majority of devout Catholics will support the candidate who follows church teachings on abortion and traditional marriage (in this case, Trump/Vance).

No, you don’t speak for all Catholics (nor do you get to decide who is a true Catholic). Maybe you should reread Luke 18:9–14. Jesus warned about people like you. It’s actually the perfect metaphor for Trump Catholics. Washington DC area Trump Catholics do not speak for all Catholics. A lot of Catholics here (with exception of churches like Holy Trinity) believe that it’s okay to cage children, to turn immigrants away, to have affairs with P0rN stars and then lie about it, to neglect our poor and elderly, to use the Bible as a prop holding it upside down while gassing peaceful protestors, and selling Bibles as a blasphemous political prop like they were a cheap Trump steak or NFT of Trump dressed like Superman. We are from the Northeast where Catholics still believe in Jesus and his teachings to care for others. So do the Jesuits and the Pope himself. It’s sad that so many area churches have become so political and have turned their back on the teachings of Jesus.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi wife is Hindu

His wife very carefully states she was raised Hindu. I haven’t seen anything about her current practices or beliefs, not that they should matter.

Plus, you can be Hindu and also go to Catholic Church.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of Catholics understand that religion is for your private life. It shouldn’t be forced upon others. There is no contradiction in following the teachings of the church in your own life but refusing to support public policy that forces everyone to abide by these teachings.