The conversation
In Mike Pence, American evangelists had their ’24-carat-gold ‘husband in the White House. Loyalty can hurt that legacy
Mike Pence remained one of the only constants in the often chaotic Trump administration. Described differently as ‘vanilla’, ‘steady’ and loyal to the point of ‘psychophantics’, he is, in the words of one profile, a man with Midwestern humility and accessibility, and in another, a ’61 – year-old, gentle, deeply religious man ‘. But his humility and loyalty are being tested as his term as vice-president comes to an end. “I hope Mike Pence gets through to us,” Trump told supporters at a rally on Monday, apparently under the misconception that Pence could overturn the election result as he presides over the election term of the Electoral College at a joint sitting of today. Balancing the ticket For the past four years, the vice president has provided a striking contrast with the mercurial, abrasive temperament of his commander-in-chief. In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016, Pence joked that he was chosen because Trump, with his “great personality,” “colorful style” and “lots of charisma,” was looking for a little balance on the card. ” Pence’s persistence attributed to his Hoosier roots and his’ skilled political operator ‘, but it is his beliefs that perhaps inform his politics and style more than anything else; as Pence has often repeated, he is a’ Christian, Conservative and Republican In that order. “In a 2011 profile during Pence’s election for governor of Indiana, noted political columnist Brian Howey remarked:” Pence not only wears his faith on his sleeve, he wears the whole Jesus- Jersey.’ This is not a characterization that scared Pence away from “My Christian faith is the core of who I am,” Pence said during the 2016 Vice Presidential debate Richard Land, former president of the Ethics Commission and Religious Freedom of the Southern Baptist Convention and current president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, said the Atlantic in 2018, “Mike Pence is the 24-carat gold model of what we want in an evangelical politician. I know no one who is more consistent in bringing his evangelical Christian worldview to public policy. ”But as a scholar of American religion and culture, I believe Pence’s belief and political identity are more complex than these statements suggest. one can trace three clear conversion experiences.In an Irish Catholic family with five siblings, working class roots and democratic political affiliations, Pence attended the Catholic school attended, served as altar boy in his family’s church, idolized John F. Kennedy and was a youth coordinator for the local Democratic Party in his teens. It was as a freshman at Hanover College in 1978 that Pence experienced an evangelical conversion when he attended a music festival in Kentucky, known as the ‘Christian Woodstock’. Thereafter, he remained active in the Catholic Church for several years, attending masses regularly, serving as a youth minister, and seriously considering joining the priesthood. At the same time, he and his future wife Karen were part of a demographic shift of Americans who ‘grew up Catholic’ and still loved much of the Catholic Church, but also loved the concept of a very personal relationship with Christ. “As a good friend put it. By the mid-1990s, he was a married father of three who identified himself as a” born-again, evangelical Catholic, “an unusual name that caused some uproar. among both evangelicals and Catholics., Pence spoke freely about how his 1978 conversion gave him a ‘personal relationship with Jesus Christ’ that ‘changed everything.’ But he tends to avoid naming his religious views as he is being pressured, referring to himself as a ‘fairly ordinary Christian’ who ‘cherishes his Catholic upbringing’. He has lived with non-dominant evangelical churches with his family since at least 1995. Pence’s political conversion was clearer. in the presidential election in 1980, he quickly adopted Ronald Reagan’s economic and social conservatism and his populist profession.In a speech at the Reagan Library in 2016, Pence Reagan attributed by h to inspire me to ‘leave the party of my youth and become a Republican as he did.’ “His broad-shouldered leadership has changed my life,” he said, adding that Pence regularly compared Trump to Reagan, arguing that they had the same “broad-shouldered” approach. caused a third conversion, this time in political style, in an essay published in 1991 entitled ‘Confessions of a Negative Campaigner’, he described himself as a sinner and wrote of his ‘conversion’ to the belief that ‘negative campaign’ Between 1992 and 1999, Pence honed his mix of family values and fiscal conservatism in a conservative talk show of the same name, and the program’s popularity set a springboard for a successful run for Congress in 2000. During his six terms in the House, Pence gained a reputation for ‘Unmanned Traditional Conservatism’ and a principled opposition to the Republican Party leadership on issues such as No Child Left Behind and Med icare extension of prescription medicine. Religious acts In addition to his ‘unpolluted’ reputation as a ‘culture warrior’, he also attracted attention for following the ‘Billy Graham rule’ to avoid meeting women alone and to avoid events where alcohol was served as his wife not at was. During the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate, Pence said his entire career in the public service stems from a commitment to ‘live out’ his religious beliefs, however imperfect. ‘One of these beliefs is his opposition to abortion, based on his reading of especially biblical passages. As a member of Congress in 2007, he was the first to sponsor legislation for the planning of planned parenting, and he did so repeatedly until the first installment bill was passed in 2011. ‘I long for the day when Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history, ”he said at the time. In 2016, over the objections of many Republican state representatives, he signed the most limited set of anti-abortion measures in the country, making him a conservative hero. Among other things, the bill prevented women from terminating pregnancies due to reasons including fetal disability such as Down syndrome. Although opponents succeed in overturning the bill in the courts, Indiana is still considered one of the most anti-abortion states in America. As vice president, Pence also cast the Senate casting vote to allow states to withhold family planning funds. of Planned Parenthood in 2017. Pence was also an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ rights. He opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crime legislation and the termination of the army’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He also supported state and federal constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, and expressed disappointment with the 2015 Obergefell decision, which requires all states to recognize such unions. At the same time, he was a strong supporter of ‘religious freedom’. especially for Christians. In March 2015, as governor of Indiana, he signed the law restoring religious freedom “to ensure that religious freedom is fully protected.” The action has ignited a firestorm of nationwide controversy: critics claim it enables individuals and businesses to legally discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community. Under pressure from LGBTQ activists, liberals, business owners and moderate Republicans, Pence signed an amendment a week later stating that it does not authorize discrimination. Important Reputation Pence’s religious and political biography reflects important political and religious shifts over the past forty years, from the rise of religious law and its growing influence in the Republican Party to the conservative coalition of evangelicals and Catholics across denominational boundaries, to the legacy of the President of an “outsider” celebrity. These threads run together in Mike Pence, whose ’24-karat ‘,’ unlimited ‘conservative credentials played a key role in bringing together the evangelical voters behind Trump in the 2016 election and who set his political future on still defending him. This article was published from The Conversation, a non-profit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Deborah Whitehead, University of Colorado Boulder. Read more: * Why Trump’s Senate supporters cannot overturn election college results they do not like – this is how the law actually works * What’s next for American evangelists after Trump leaves office? Deborah Whitehead does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has not disclosed any applicable commitments outside of their academic appointment.