Anonymous wrote:Being an evangelical doesn't expand the pool of potential consumers of his brand of BS. Becoming a Catholic does. However, both strains of Christianity are controlled exclusively by a male power structure, with women having no governance role, and both are rabidly anti-choice, anti-gay, and all about punishing women for having sex. That is all very "on-brand" for JD.
Opportunistic grifter.

This is true for every major world religion and almost every society.

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.

Being an evangelical doesn't expand the pool of potential consumers of his brand of BS. Becoming a Catholic does. However, both strains of Christianity are controlled exclusively by a male power structure, with women having no governance role, and both are rabidly anti-choice, anti-gay, and all about punishing women for having sex. That is all very "on-brand" for JD.
Opportunistic grifter.

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.

You're naive if you think there's anything genuine about him.

I agree that converts more generally tend to be more religious / more serious but someone with this level of meteoric rise is picking everything based on opportunism.

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

Yes, he certainly knows how to target an audience. Leading with “Mawmaw” from the start, then underscoring his impoverished roots more clearly a few more times to ensure the yokels catch on.

Do you really see him as a genuine person? Really? How could someone from his background possibly justify his partnership with Trump and their abhorrent policies that are going to directly harm so many “Mawmaws” and their kin?

Like I said earlier, he’s a shyster. I’m not a Catholic, but I admire some of the teachings, and Trump’s policies really don’t track with Vance’s alleged Catholicism.

Hi wife is Hindu

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

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."

I think it just goes with his politics.

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.

Or…he “converted” because he realized it would appeal to his Republican fan base and help him along in his political career.

And it seems to be working with you.

How about: he grew up among the poor and underprivileged, as documented in his book, yet is now a rabid Republican partnering with Trump and ready to initiate policies that will harm the same people who were his family and among whom he grew up. I don’t call those actions of a true “believer”: he’s a shyster out for himself like all of his ilk.

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

I think it may be a place of refuge in today’s society. I think we have a fairly sick culture, frankly, and I think there are people who find the traditions of the church and its concept of morality and structure comforting.

I just learned that JD Vance converted to Catholicism only in the past few years. As a lifelong Catholic, I am always astonished by those who come to the faith later in life. The few I know are far more devout than others I know who grew up in the Church, including myself. Is the Church finally figuring out how to reach young people?