{"id":32482,"date":"2023-08-06T21:41:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T03:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ramaswamys-faith-is-front-and-center-in-his-presidential-bid\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:58:33","slug":"ramaswamys-faith-is-front-and-center-in-his-presidential-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ramaswamys-faith-is-front-and-center-in-his-presidential-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaswamy\u2019s faith is front and center in his presidential bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vivek
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 3 at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)<\/span>Alex Brandon<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Vivek Ramaswamy is as comfortable talking about Bible stories as he is sharing the message of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most sacred Hindu texts.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur turned Republican presidential candidate<\/a> has been steadily garnering support in a party dominated by conservative Christians. In many polls, he\u2019s in third place behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and he is one of six candidates who have qualified for the first GOP presidential debate Aug. 23.<\/p>\n

He is also only the nation\u2019s second Hindu presidential candidate. Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman, ran as a Democrat in 2020.<\/p>\n

Ramaswamy shared 10 core beliefs as part of his campaign, with \u201cGod is real\u201d topping the list followed by \u201cThere are two genders.\u201d He cascaded into the limelight with his 2021 book \u201cWoke Inc: Inside Corporate America\u2019s Social Justice Scam,\u201d a scathing critique of corporations that he says use social justice causes<\/a> as a smokescreen for self-interested policies.<\/p>\n

He became a regular commentator on Fox News and other conservative outlets, backing capitalism and meritocracy, and criticizing affirmative action, mask mandates and open borders. He is anti-abortion and believes gender dysphoria should be treated as a mental illness. He has expressed support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a> and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/a>, whose populist policies have been divisive.<\/p>\n

On the campaign trail, Ramaswamy has leaned into his faith as he vies for the nomination of a party where evangelical Christian support is key. In speeches and casual conversations with these voters, he maintains that his religion has much in common with \u201cthe Judeo-Christian values this nation was founded on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an ardent defender of religious liberty,\u201d he said in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cI will be an even more vocal and unapologetic defender of it precisely because no one is going to accuse me of being a Christian nationalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

While questions have been raised about his ability to appeal to conservative Christian voters, Ramaswamy said he has more in common with people of all faiths than those with no faith at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was raised in a belief system where there is one true God who empowers each of us with our own capacities,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we say in the Hindu tradition<\/a>, God resides in each one of us. In the Christian tradition, you say we\u2019re all made in the image of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

The child of immigrants from southern India, Ramaswamy grew up in Cincinnati speaking Tamil at home with his religious parents who performed pujas \u2014 a form of worship rituals. He heard stories from Hindu epics, offered daily prayers to deities and attended temples in Dayton and Cincinnati. He and his wife, Apoorva, a physician, plan to raise their two sons as Hindus.<\/p>\n

Ramaswamy said he was also deeply influenced by Christians. He cemented his anti-abortion stance while attending St. Xavier Catholic High School in Cincinnati, and learned a strong \u201cProtestant work ethic\u201d from his piano teacher of 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lessons learned being Hindu were similar and in many ways overlapping with Judeo-Christian values like sacrifice, performing your duty without attachment to the results and believing that your work on this Earth is not being done by you, but through you,\u201d he said, adding these Hindu values seem to resonate with Christian and Jewish audiences.<\/p>\n

Not all feedback from Christians has been favorable. Hank Kunneman, a pro-Trump pastor in Nebraska, attacked Ramaswamy\u2019s faith during a recent sermon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d he asked his congregation. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have some dude put his hand on something other than the Bible? You\u2019re going to let him put all of his strange gods up in the White House?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vivek
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 3 at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Alex Brandon\/The Associated Press<\/span>Alex Brandon<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ramaswamy dismissed Kunneman\u2019s views as unrepresentative of most U.S. Christians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile my first reaction to such speech is one of frustration, the truth is I\u2019m running to lead a nation\u2026including those who disagree with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His approach is drawing support from influential Christian leaders, including Bob Vander Plaats, who had a front-row seat for Ramaswamy\u2019s recent campaign visit to Iowa. He said Ramswamy\u2019s \u201ccommon sense values and shared virtues\u201d are the reasons he is being \u201cvery warmly received by audiences of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ramaswamy\u2019s faith may not be ideal for some Christian voters, it comes down to making the best choice available, said Vander Plaats, president of a conservative group, The Family Leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were to tailor-make a candidate, it would be someone who shares our faith,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, I\u2019d much rather see him (as president) than Joe Biden, Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most Hindu Americans and Indian Americans, on the other hand, tend to vote Democratic and be progressive on social issues like abortion, immigration and LGBTQ rights. They are divided over Ramaswamy\u2019s candidacy; some are particularly irked by his eagerness to equate Hindu and Christian teachings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is taking great care to show a certain aspect of Hinduism without talking about mysticism and polytheism, which are core aspects of the religion,\u201d said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of AAPI Data and a public policy professor at the University of California, Riverside.<\/p>\n

Still, Ramaswamy is \u201cfeeding a certain need in the Republican party\u201d and is getting attention because he is a novelty in ways that Andrew Yang was for Democrats in 2020, Ramakrishnan said. \u201cHe is among those candidates who may not have all those expected attributes or the experience \u2026 but through the power of their ideas, are able to get into the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ria Chakrabarty, policy director of Hindus for Human Rights, said she is concerned by Ramaswamy\u2019s attempt to \u201cpackage Hinduism in the family values mold, talking about it as a monotheistic religion to appeal to the Abrahamic faiths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a Hindu perspective, every person has a fundamental right to make a choice about how they want to access health care,\u201d she said. \u201c(Ramaswamy) saying unborn life is life, what does that mean policy-wise? It\u2019s also worrying to see a Hindu feed into LGBTQ hate because Hinduism has a rich history when it comes to queerness.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other Hindu Americans who may disagree with Ramaswamy\u2019s views, his candidacy still represents an important shift in American politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t share his politics by a mile,\u201d said Sumit Ganguly, a political science professor at Indiana University. \u201cBut he is gutsy for not hiding his faith or converting to Christianity for political gain. This might not have been possible 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramaswamy still has a steep hill to climb because most Americans know little about Hinduism, Ganguly said.<\/p>\n

Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said that when Hindu Americans run for any office \u201cit\u2019s inspirational for kids to know they can be who they are and be proud of their heritage and values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramaswamy\u2019s candidacy also reflects the growing political diversity within the Hindu community, Shukla said.<\/p>\n

For Republican voters, Vander Plaats said Ramaswamy\u2019s continued success hinges on distinguishing himself from the GOP front-runners. He compared Ramaswamy to Queen Esther in the Bible who was chosen by God to save the Jewish people from genocide:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs to show us why this is his Esther moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Republican
Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks outside the shuddered former South Shore High School where the city of Chicago is planning to house illegal migrants Friday, May 19, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Paul Beaty, File)<\/span>Paul Beaty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Positions on God, gender and social justice gain conservative followers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[266],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-32482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-election"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81810,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32482\/revisions\/81810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32482"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}