Speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Breakfast in Milwaukee today, GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance told the audience exactly what it wanted to hear: that he would “integrate” his personal religious beliefs into his governing agenda.
Vance trotted out the kind of “I was temporarily an atheist in college” bromide we often hear from those brought up in religion who are running for public office. Fundamentalists love nothing better than a sinner-to-saint story. By the way, Vance called atheism “arrogance” and added that “arrogance motivates a lot of our secular culture today.” Among his other remarks: “If you practice your faith, if you pray … God makes you a little bit better every day,” greeted by applause. Oddly, he imputed being “brought back to Christ by finding a wife” — odd because she is Hindu. Yet, she supposedly told him that he being a Christian made him a more patient father and husband.
The most revealing anecdote Vance gave during his short Faith & Freedom Coalition Breakfast remarks was likening his faith and his view on miracles to those of Samuel L. Jackson’s character in “Pulp Fiction,” whom Vance termed his “favorite theologian.” (Spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie.) The particular scene Vance describes is after the Jackson character, described as a “violent gangster,” has just survived a volley of gunshots. He and another criminal argue about whether or not it’s a miracle. Vance describes Jackson’s character as saying: “It’s not about whether God changed Coke to Pepsi or found my car keys. What matters is I felt the touch of God.”
Some may chalk Vance’s comments up to nothing more than his desire to relate his faith to pop culture, but there is so much more to unpack here. What Vance doesn’t mention is that Jackson’s character recites a fictional rendition of Ezekiel 25:17 immediately before shooting and killing someone, then “miraculously” survives the ambush. Vance’s statements are an unintentionally accurate portrayal of how Christian nationalists distort history and teachings in the bible to fit their narrative. Theocrats like David Barton, perhaps the nation’s most laughable “historian” who has infamously repeated or invented false historical claims to advance a Christian nationalist revisionist history narrative, have been doing this for years. Trump famously used an (upside down) bible for a photo op after violently pushing his way through a crowd outside the White House. Vance has taken note of what sells in Trump’s Republican Party. Vance’s own analogy to a fictional religious revelation moments after a fabricated bible quote couldn’t be more on the nose.
Vance has been tied to a Christian nationalist movement called “Catholic integralism.” During his Senate race in 2022, he spoke at an ultraconservative university in Steubenville, Ohio, as part of a conference associated with Catholic integralism. The Washington Post described Catholic integralism as “radical in the sense that it strikes at the root of the ideas underpinning the American experiment. Lost in the conflict is the rich moral and theological inheritance of the American political tradition. Gained is a mess of authoritarian pottage.” Vance has spoken out against no-fault divorce and praised the “traditional family.” It’s no surprise that religious extremists are celebrating Vance’s commitment to this movement. Likewise, although his view on abortion has been soft-pedaled by some in the media, Vance supports a national abortion ban (as does the party platform without saying it explicitly).
JD Vance is exactly what Christian nationalists hoped for in a vice presidential candidate. Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation and a major architect of Project 2025, seems to be thrilled with Vance’s elevation. Roberts said that people at his organization were “privately rooting” for Trump to choose Vance as his running mate. They, along with every other Christian nationalist outfit throughout the country, got their wish — they have another pawn with public relations skills through which they can advance their vision of a Christian nation.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.