All posts tagged: JD Vance

In JD Vance’s faith memoir, the most telling words are ‘My Way’

In JD Vance’s faith memoir, the most telling words are ‘My Way’

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — The Catholic vice president of the United States did not come from a well-born or wealthy beginning — yet, through hard work and determination, he rose to high office. His Catholic faith both guides his public life at the highest levels of government and also maintains his connection to the people he knew growing up. I am talking about Joe Biden. And the comparison with JD Vance is instructive. Consider for a moment how Biden has talked about his Catholic faith. “My religion is just an enormous sense of solace. And some of it relates to ritual, some of it relates to comfort and what you’ve done your whole life.” For Biden, faith is rooted in family, memory and long practice — and shaped by profound loss. Empathy, Biden once told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, is what we gain from loss. Biden wears his faith easily in an unfussy way, like his own skin. JD Vance has a different way. The words “relevant” and “relevance” recur with disconcerting frequency in Vance’s new …

As UFOs go mainstream, the jury is out on what the existence of alien life might mean for religion

As UFOs go mainstream, the jury is out on what the existence of alien life might mean for religion

Published by Sam Flores

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In “Disclosure Day,” out Friday, Steven Spielberg is once again inviting audiences to ponder the existence of extraterrestrial life — and the implications it would have for religion on Earth. But Spielberg is hardly the only one making headlines of late about UFOs and the possibility of life on other planets. What was once considered fringe or conspiratorial has in recent months popped up everywhere from the White House to the Catholic Church, as public fascination with unidentified anomalous phenomena — or UAPs, as the government calls them — becomes more mainstream. The Pentagon in May made public large swaths of UFO files with very little context, leaving curious sleuths to piece together their own interpretations. The dump came just weeks after former President Barack Obama set off a media frenzy for stating unambiguously in an interview that aliens are real, though he later tempered that take. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” the former president, who made a surprise visit to …

The many forms of Holocaust distortion and why JD Vance’s remarks matter

The many forms of Holocaust distortion and why JD Vance’s remarks matter

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — In his statement about International Holocaust Remembrance Day last week, Vice President JD Vance omitted any mention of Jews. He said on X:  Today we remember the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, the millions of stories of individual bravery and heroism, and one of the enduring lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history: that while humans create beautiful things and are full of compassion, we’re also capable of unspeakable brutality. And we promise never again to go down the darkest path. His statement is just one example of how many less-than-friendly actors have distorted the meaning of the Holocaust. Here’s my taxonomy of ways its memory has been distorted: Holocaust minimization: “The Holocaust happened, but the Jews have exaggerated the numbers.” Holocaust trivialization: “The Holocaust happened, and Jews have used it to play the victim card.” Holocaust inversion: “The Holocaust happened, but the genocide [sic] in Gaza is worse.” Holocaust universalization, part 1: “The Holocaust happened, but it was not just about the Jews.” (This is where the …

Abortions Rose After Dobbs—And the March for Life Knows It

Abortions Rose After Dobbs—And the March for Life Knows It

Published by Sam Flores

The Movement Got What It Wanted. Abortions Increased Anyway.One year ago, JD Vance spoke at the March for Life like a conquering hero. Trump had just been inaugurated. Roe was overturned. The movement was jubilant. This year, he had to address his detractors from the stage. Something had shifted. What They WonThe anti-abortion movement got what it wanted: Dobbs overturned Roe. And yet abortions in America have actually risen since the decision fell. Nearly two-thirds of those abortions now happen through medication. Mifepristone gets prescribed via telehealth. It’s accessible even in states with bans. The Trump administration made it clear they’re not touching it. The “Prudential” ProblemFrom the stage, Vance defended that position. He called it a “prudential” decision—strategically and politically wise. On social media, people were furious at the word. In the crowd, one man told RNS reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain: “I think we are in a difficult political moment. JD Vance’s heart is in the right place. I was worried the Trump administration wanted to compromise on abortion. But I think that’s just their …