US Vice President JD Vance has spoken candidly about his Christian faith and interfaith marriage to wife Usha, revealing that she encouraged his return to Christianity despite practising Hinduism herself.
Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning, Vance said his wife played a significant role in encouraging him to explore faith.
“She was the person who encouraged me most to do it,” JD said when asked why he dedicated his book to Usha.
He continued: “Usha said very early on that the business of thinking about my faith [and] thinking about converting was good for me. I think that her encouragement was one of the things that needed to happen because when I started dating, I was sort of a proud atheist. I was kind of skeptical of religion and skeptical of religious people.”
Vance also reflected on how his conversion affected his marriage. His wife, Usha Vance, practises Hinduism.
“One of the big concerns I had was ... Usha didn't really sign up for this. [She] didn't sign up for church every Sunday. She didn't sign up for a person who was a very devout Christian," he said.
The couple said managing an interfaith marriage is “very easy”, with Usha adding that suggestions her husband was trying to convert her had been "misunderstood".
"He is Catholic. Part of his faith is wanting to spread his faith," she said. "But it's not like he's proselytising to me every day."
They said they chose to raise their children in the Christian faith in an effort not to confuse them, while also being open about Usha's beliefs and her family's religious background.
For Usha, the ease of navigating an interfaith marriage stems in part from growing up in Southern California, where she was surrounded by people from a range of Christian and other religious backgrounds.
As Premier Christian News previously reported, Vance recently published Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which explores his faith journey and adult conversion to Catholicism.
“The story of how I regained my faith, of course, only happened because I had lost it to begin with,” Vance said in a statement.
“The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root.”