Call me a Ramaswamy Mommy...
until further notice.
A video circulated the internet last week, where prominent and controversial pro-lifer Abby Johnson spoke on a panel, telling Christians that they must not vote for Vivek Ramaswamy. She explained that the devil is the author of confusion, and then compared Ramaswamy to former president Barack Obama, in their charisma and presentation. She closed with this quote,
“God hates those who are willing to put up idols over Him. And He will not be mocked.”
This is not going to be a referendum on Abby Johnson, but rather, the question she’s addressing, because I think it’s worth a discussion. CAN Christians vote for a Hindu president?
Like so many things in life…it’s complicated. Let's get a few things straight first.
We will never, and I mean never, have a perfect candidate. The religious fervor with which many Americans cling to their favorite candidate is disordered, and frankly just weird. Yes, this is coming from the girl who had a MAGA sticker on her truck for literally years. We can appreciate and show our support for the good, while also calling out the bad. Left, Right, Middle or anything in between, pledging your allegiance unfailingly to a human politician, (the only kind we will ever have as far as I am aware,) will result in disappointment.
No one, although many have tried, has been able to convince me of the reasoning behind voting for a third party candidate. Maybe you don’t like the two party system. Fair enough. But as it turns out, no matter how hard we wish and hope, reality simply does not change, and third party candidates still have no chance. Instead, typically either libertarians or very conservative Christians vote third party, and it simply takes away from the candidate closest to their values who has a chance at winning.
My Catholic faith is the foundation of my life, and goodness it is such a gift when one is navigating difficult topics. In a move that St. Thomas More would consider very odd, Catholics and Christians have relatively recently decided that politics is simply too messy, and they have washed their hands of it altogether. I’m not a tattoo kind of girl, but if I was, a tattoo of this would probably save me some time because I say it so often. Politics very simply means, affairs of the city/state. That means, the affairs of where we live. Doesn’t that seem like something we should be involved in?
Maybe you need further convincing. Good news, the Church has something for you! That’s not what this article is about, so I’ll link a really great explanation of why Catholics should vote HERE.
Ok. So to recap.
No candidate is perfect
We need to vote for someone who has a chance at winning
Catholics and Christians need to vote.
Based on that framework, why don’t we discuss Mr. Ramaswamy. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a big fan, and I’ll tell you why. It’s not because he’s a smooth talker. In fact, it’s because he doesn’t speak in sound bites. He really digs into the issues. Check out his podcast if you don’t believe me. He chats with folks that challenge him, and get into the nitty gritty of a topic. The comparison to Obama is unfair, for just this reason. Obama brooked no disagreement. He said one thing and did another. Vivek has not yet been tested in that arena, but no Republican candidate besides Trump has.
He’s pro-life, aka what should be all Christians number one issue. He is a small government guy. He’s not 2,873 years old and can walk without tripping. He has a young family, which means that issues such as our school system matter to him now, in this moment. He’s a successful business man. He’s for cutting the unelected three letter agencies that currently run our country, and he’s for religious freedom. Frankly, having charisma is not a bad thing. Oh and yes, he is also Hindu.
Now, for his most likely opposition, were he to win the primaries…
Joe Biden. A Catholic. You know, like Nancy Pelosi. Devout, faithful Catholics who openly advocate for abortion. Oh, they’re not PERSONALLY for it, but certainly it should be allowed. Does the title of Catholic automatically make Joe a better candidate? Personally, I think the potential for mocking God is actually higher with this man.
Maybe you’re saying to yourself, ok, well that’s an obvious one. But what about IN the primaries? Here is my very official, very professional synopsis of the candidates who have made enough of a splash to get to the debate stage.
DeSantis. Catholic. Has done really well in Florida. Steady, mainstream GOP guy. Says he’s pro life, but also pushed monoclonal antibodies made from aborted fetal cells during Covid, so there’s that. Not super old, which is nice.
Trump. Christian. Potentially thinks he actually is the second coming of Christ. Did a great job with the economy. Good for foreign policy, other leaders are afraid of what he might do, considering he hasn’t even decided what that is yet himself. Has been indicted 14,837 times now, and could be the first prison POTUS. Can you imagine THAT state of the union address?
Pence. Christian. Anyone who is still a Trumper won’t vote for him, so he’ll never win. Perfect target for pretty much every single boomer joke ever.
Burgum. Unclear. Seems like a good governor of ND. Literally no one knows who he is, but based on Google, he has signed anti abortion and anti trans legislation, so points there. Apparently a very rich entrepreneur, and has funded much of his own campaigns.
Haley. Christian, formerly Sikh. Only female in the GOP race. Seemed like she did a good job as UN Ambassador. Very, very politician-y and talking point-ish. Says the right things, but honestly, is just kind of boring.
Scott. Christian. No chance to win. Probably gunning for a VP position. Does put his faith at the forefront often, which is nice.
Christie. Catholic. Has flipped his position to pro life now, pro choice in the past. Said he joined the race to antagonize Trump, which is sort of a weird plan. Claims to be besties with the Archbishop of Newark…which is Archbishop Tobin.
Sidenote: In a surprising twist, Taylor Marshall didn’t make the debate stage, and is considered unlikely to win, despite his very genius master plan. (Disclaimer, I don’t hate him. But I do think we need to stop thinking that these folks are geniuses with super well thought out plans all of the time. Sometimes they’re just winging it like the rest of us.)
Switch gears with me for a hot second. An airline has two candidates for one pilot position. One is Catholic, one is Hindu. The Catholic is a very holy person who has no idea how to fly a plane. The Hindu is a good person who has five years of experience as a pilot. You’re about to get on the flight. Who are you picking? Suddenly, religion doesn’t seem to matter so much.
That’s a simplified example, but you get my point. In my opinion, our number one goal as Catholics should be restoring the proper relationship between Church and State. Pope Gelasius presented the theory of the two swords. The Church is the sword that decides what is just and right, and the State is the sword that enforces what is just and right.
Until that order is restored, (looking at you USCCB,) we must choose candidates based on their qualifications for the job at hand, the enforcement of what is just and right. There are only two candidates willing to go all in to push the culture back towards the right, and one of them worships himself. To quote one of my Instagram followers, count me in as a Ramaswamy Mommy until further notice!
PS: In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll end up voting for whoever the Republican nominee is and I just really wish we could stop doing the same old thing and expecting different results.