An American Hindu organisation asked Vice President JD Vance to “engage with Hinduism” after he said that his wife, Usha, “encouraged” him "to re-engage” with his faith. Vance is facing criticism over his comments regarding his interfaith marriage after saying he eventually hopes that Usha, who grew up in a Hindu household, “is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church.”
Hitting back at his critics, Vance on Friday said it was his wife who encouraged him to re-engage with Christianity. “My wife— as I said at the TPUSA — is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago,” he said. Responding to Vance’s remark, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) issued a statement on Friday calling on him to engage with “Hinduism too.”
“With respect to the Vice President, if your wife encouraged you to re-engage with your faith, why not reciprocate that and engage with Hinduism too?” said the HAF. “Hinduism doesn’t share the need to wish your spouse comes around to see things as you do in terms of religion,” the HAF added. The group said that, being a public figure and Vice President, Vance should acknowledge the “rights of Hindus to practice.”