Grace Thompson
JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, is a Catholic 'post-liberal'. In 2019, Vance converted to Catholicism, which he says provided him with a spiritual fulfilment he couldn't find in his Yale education or career success. In his own words, Vance described his conversion as an incremental process, influenced by his wife, his uncle, and the works of Saint Augustine, René Girard, and English philosopher Basil Mitchell.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of conversion | 2019 |
| Reason for conversion | Spiritual fulfillment |
| Needed grace to be a good husband and father | |
| Wanted a worldview that understood bad behaviour as simultaneously social and individual | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that recognized people as products of their environment | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that recognized individual duties and moral responsibilities | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued community over individual liberty | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued structure | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued historical continuity with the Church Fathers and Christ | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued reason | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued patience and forgiveness | |
| Wanted to prioritize family over professional prestige | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that valued virtue | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that his uncle, a man he admired, practiced | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that his friends practiced | |
| Wanted to be part of a religion that his grandmother, a woman he loved, could accept |
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What You'll Learn
J.D. Vance's Catholic conversion in 2019
J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, converted to Catholicism in 2019. In his own words, Vance described his journey to Catholicism as a "pretty conventional" one. After graduating high school, Vance joined the Marines and left for Iraq in 2005. He returned in 2006, skeptical of the war and the liberal ideology that underpinned it. After leaving the Marines in 2007, he began college at The Ohio State University, where he read Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris and called himself an atheist.
Vance's grandmother, whom he called Mamaw, was a woman of deep but de-institutionalized faith. She loathed "organized religion" and rarely attended church services. Vance's first real exposure to an institutional church came through his father's large Pentecostal congregation in southwestern Ohio. Despite his early misconceptions about Catholicism, Vance eventually found himself drawn to Catholic doctrine several years after his grandmother's death in 2005. He admired his Catholic uncle, whom he described as a man of Christian virtue. He also credited his wife, Usha, with helping him work through his anger issues and become the kind of husband and father he wanted to be.
In a 2020 essay for the Catholic journal The Lamp, Vance wrote that he "needed grace" to provide him with the virtues to be a good husband and father, and that he "needed, in other words, to become Catholic." He also wrote about how Catholicism provided him with a new way of looking at the social ills he described in his 2016 bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." He felt that Catholicism understood "our bad behavior as simultaneously social and individual, structural and moral."
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His Catholic-inspired political approach
In 2019, JD Vance, a Republican vice-presidential nominee, converted to Catholicism. His conversion was inspired by reading the philosopher of religion, René Girard, who viewed people as driven by ancient clashes of rivalrous desire, or what he called "mimetic desire".
Vance's conversion to Catholicism has influenced his political approach, which is considered controversial and breaks with conventional conservatism. He identifies with the post-liberal right, a political movement that emphasizes communal good over individual liberty. This represents a shift from the standard operating procedure of the American right and the type of Catholic conservative typically seen in American politics.
Vance's Catholic-inspired political approach is influenced by Catholic intellectuals and thinkers, including Patrick Deneen, author of "Why Liberalism Failed", and Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire. Deneen described Vance as having "a deep commitment to strengthening American families and the communities that sustain them". Vance's politics are also influenced by his mentor, Trump, and he has been described as taking his intellectual armoury from the extremely online world of the New Right.
Vance's political goals have been described as "explicitly anti-elitist, explicitly anti-regime", with a focus on replacing government bureaucrats with administrators committed to the country's common good. He has also expressed a desire to strengthen communities and families, and to address social ills such as addiction and family breakdown. In addition, Vance has opposed abortion, aligning with the Republicans' first post-Roe platform in 2024, in which they backed off from their longstanding support for nationwide abortion restrictions.
Vance's Catholic-inspired political approach has sparked concern among some Catholics, who worry that he has fallen under the influence of thinkers with their own agendas. His interpretation of Catholicism and its impact on his politics has been described as controversial, even within the Catholic Church.
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Post-liberalism and its impact on the American right
Post-liberalism is a political ideology that critiques and opposes liberalism, particularly the form of liberalism that developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Post-liberalism gained influence primarily among American conservatives critical of fusionism, with figures such as Patrick Deneen, Rod Dreher, Adrian Vermeule, and Yoram Hazony associated with this perspective.
Post-liberalism contends that liberalism, with its emphasis on individual rights, free markets, and limited government, has failed to address issues such as the erosion of community and social cohesion, as well as income inequality. Post-liberals argue that the liberal focus on individual rights and freedoms has diminished the importance of community, family, and tradition in fostering meaning and belonging. They advocate for a communitarian approach that emphasizes social conservatism and social solidarity, drawing on traditionalist conservative and religious frameworks. This includes support for conservative institutions like the nuclear family and religion, while promoting political opposition to immigration and cultural diversity.
The impact of post-liberalism on the American right has been significant. Since 2016, the American right has been engaged in what has been described as the "liberalism wars," with post-liberals questioning aspects of classical liberalism, modern conservatism, and the strong hold these ideologies have had on the non-left in America. Post-liberalism has offered a different perspective on issues such as immigration, foreign policy, and the role of the state.
The rise of right-wing populism, exemplified by the election of Donald Trump in 2016, has also contributed to the growth of post-liberalism on the American right. The Trump-Vance ticket in particular has brought post-liberalism into the spotlight, with the potential for it to shape federal policy and influence the political outlook of the American right, especially among Catholic conservatives.
The conversion of J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to Catholicism in 2019 is illustrative of the impact of post-liberalism on the American right. Vance, a self-described member of the "post-liberal right", breaks with conventional conservatism by emphasizing the communal good over individual liberty, drawing from Catholic social teaching and pre-conciliar popes like Pius IX and Leo XIII. His influence on the American right, should he be elected vice president, could lead to post-liberal ideas becoming more mainstream within conservative circles.
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Vance's influences and their impact on his conversion
J.D. Vance, who comes from a long line of culturally Protestant Scots-Irish Americans from Appalachia, was baptized Catholic in August 2019. He has cited several influences that impacted his decision to convert to Catholicism.
One of the key influences on Vance's conversion was his exposure to Catholic intellectual movements, particularly Catholic postliberalism. This movement emphasizes communal good over individual liberty, drawing heavily from Church teachings and the writings of pre-conciliar popes like Pius IX and Leo XIII. By embracing postliberalism, Vance broke with conventional conservatism, adopting a Catholic-inspired approach to politics that prioritized the community over individual liberty.
Another influence on Vance's conversion was his interaction with Dominican friars and conservative Catholic writers. Through conversations and his study of Catholicism, he found a new way of understanding the social and individual issues he had written about in his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." He also credited Catholicism with providing him with the virtues he needed to be a good husband and father.
Vance's wife, Usha, a Hindu, supported his decision to convert, although he admitted that the Church's clergy sex-abuse scandal delayed his conversion. Additionally, his time in the Marines and subsequent skepticism about the Iraq War and liberalism, as well as his exposure to atheistic writers like Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, may have contributed to his spiritual journey.
Vance's mentor, tech billionaire Peter Thiel, and atheist philosopher Curtis Yarvin, also influenced his thinking. Thiel, a student of René Girard, a philosopher of religion, may have played a role in shaping Vance's worldview, which led to his conversion.
Vance's conversion to Catholicism had a significant impact on his political views and vice versa. He described his political views as being shaped by his Catholic faith, particularly on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. However, he also acknowledged the tension between politics and faith, recognizing that pursuing popularity in politics could conflict with living a life of faith.
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His grandmother's de-institutionalized faith
In his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy", JD Vance writes about his upbringing by his grandparents, James and Bonnie Vance, whom he called "Papaw" and "Mamaw". Mamaw's influence on Vance was profound, and she was the greatest influence on his life. She was a woman of deep but completely de-institutionalized faith. While she loved God and her Christian faith was an important part of her life, she was disconnected from traditional religious institutions and did not attend church regularly.
Mamaw's faith was shaped by her personal relationship with God, rather than organized religion. She loved evangelists like Billy Graham and Donald Ison, a preacher from her home in southeastern Kentucky. However, she was critical of the televangelists she saw on TV, believing them to be more interested in money than faith. Mamaw also saw the church as an increasingly upper-crust institution that was inaccessible to poor, white communities like hers.
Vance's early exposure to Christianity was through his grandmother's de-institutionalized faith and his father's large Pentecostal congregation in southwestern Ohio. He writes that he knew a few things about Catholicism from an early age, including the worship of Mary and the rejection of Scripture. However, it was not until later in life that he would seriously consider converting to Catholicism.
After graduating from high school in 2003, Vance enlisted in the Marines and was deployed to Iraq in 2005. This experience left him skeptical of the liberal political ideologies he had once believed in. He returned to the United States in 2006 and, without the anchor of his grandmother's faith or a church community, his own faith began to wane. By the time he left the Marines in 2007 and started college, he had become an atheist, influenced by authors like Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris.
It was during this period of atheism that Vance began to explore Catholicism. He was influenced by Catholic thinkers like St. Augustine, who offered a strongly intellectual understanding of the Christian faith, and René Girard, whose philosophy emphasized ancient clashes of rivalrous desire. In 2019, Vance officially converted to Catholicism, choosing Augustine of Hippo as his confirmation saint.
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Frequently asked questions
JD Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019.
In a 2020 essay for the Catholic journal The Lamp, Vance mentions that he concluded he "needed grace" to provide him with the virtues to be a good husband and father. He also writes about his admiration for his Catholic uncle, Dan, and how he eventually came to believe that the teachings of the Catholic Church were true.
Before converting to Catholicism, JD Vance had a Pentecostal Christian upbringing. In his youth, he embraced the strict biblical literalism of his father's Pentecostal church. However, in college, he embraced atheism, which he later viewed as arrogant and fashionable.
