JD Vance was at the center of a major controversy after he said he hopes that his Hindu wife would one day convert to Christianity.
As Vice President JD Vance addressed the row over his statement about his wife Usha Vance’s religion and made it clear that it was her faith that helped him reconnect with his own religion, the Hindu American Foundation asked the VP why he never thought of engaging with Hinduism as well. The organization said that, given the present anti-Hindu sentiment online, his public acknowledgement of the positive impact of Hinduism on him would be more reasonable. Accused of throwing his wife’s religion under the bus, JD Vance said it’s disgusting to interpret his statement in this way. JD Vance said Usha Vance is not a Christian and has no plans to convert but like many people in an interfaith marriage or an interfaith relationship, he hopes that she may one day see things as he does. “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 said, adding that Usha is the most amazing blessing in his life and she encouraged him to re-engage with his faith. In 2019, JD Vance was baptized, years after his marriage to Usha Vance. Before that, he was an agnostic, as he called himself. He said Usha was also an agnostic when they first met. Vance defended his hope to see his wife converted and called it a Christian belief. “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,” Vance said. But the religion controversy did not end with Vance’s statement. The Hindu American Foundation expected him to engage with Hinduism. “If you did you may well learn that Hinduism doesn’t share the need to wish your spouse comes around to see things as you do in terms of religion. Hinduism is inherently inclusive and pluralistic in this way. We do not seek to convert anyone. We embrace the idea that there are multiple ways of conceiving of the Divine. Yet, there remains a compulsion, from some religious communities, to convert us to another way of thinking, that goes beyond mere dialog and sharing of differing opinions,” the foundation said. HAF countered the belief that the path of salvation is only through Christ and asked if Hindus in America do not have religious freedom. “Some of the most vocal voices in your base seem to not actually believe religious freedom — one of the core concepts this nation was founded upon, as you well know — should extend to Hindus,” it said.
