Has Religion Become Synonymous With Defiance?

The colonies broke away from King George III in 1776, yet today Great Britain is a strong ally. While the United States is in the midst of yet another chaotic election season, I thought I would get a different perspective from our friends across the pond and read The Times (UK) column “JD Vance’s Catholicism is a form of dissent” by James Marriott. As you can imagine, the title alone was intriguing, as I never felt that religion in modern times was a form of dissent. Certainly those with faith are a community of believers. But it could be argued that during a period of growing secularism, those with faith are outside the norm.

In any case, Marriott points out that “Vance — the first millennial to appear on an American presidential ticket — practises a faith that is ostentatiously old-fashioned and serious-minded.”  Marriott further identifies how the Brits’ secularism makes them skeptical of Americans’ zeal for religiosity while somewhat awestruck that we are 20 years behind European secular views—though quickly catching up. Thus Vance is a rebel, part of a Catholic Church also seen to be rebellious.

Marriott isn’t trashing religion so much as pointing out that Vance has, over time, chosen to leave his own skepticism behind to join a religion foreign to his upbringing. Marriott will certainly not be converting anytime soon but realizes that traditional Catholicism is “counterculture.” True to his secularist views Marriott states, “The West will continue its long march away from God.” But he also acknowledges that the Christian religions that have survived are those who have not bent toward social/cultural progress and remained true to their original, biblical foundations.

Toward the end of the column, Marriott suggests that the Christian churches rooted in biblical doctrine rather than societal whims have participants who are drawn together as a form of “exclusive identity.” Personally, I find this a rather cynical view of faith. Yet if you are a non-believer, it’s par for the course.

Most importantly, reading Marriott’s column brought me to J.D. Vance’s 2020 essay “How I Joined the Resistance,” which is quite a thorough account of Vance’s journey toward becoming a Catholic.

Vance was raised in a house by his grandmother who had a strong faith without religion, served in Iraq as an idealist, returned home as an atheist, and after attending The Ohio State went to Yale where elitists favored secularism and atheism. There is no moment where Vance had a sudden epiphany. Jesus did not meet him on a road. Instead, his conversion happened thoughtfully through lectures, the writings of St. Augustine, and self-reflection on the objective of a well-lived life.

It is here that I must interject that J.D. Vance’s walk is similar to mine. But unlike him, I have found no conclusions. For, I have been dealing with my own crisis of faith, crisis of self-doubt, and crisis defining the word accomplishment. Perhaps some would label this a mid-life crisis that the purchase of a Corvette would remedy. But, I assure you, this is deeper.

I was raised with a Catholic father and a “spiritual” mother. My father and our Catholic faith taught that prayer was the answer to all problems. When I was a pre-teen, I often thought about becoming a nun—most likely due to the movie The Song of Bernadette—though no apparitions appeared.

But by the age of 14, my world was rocked when our mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Overnight our household became focused on her needs, her illness, and a belief that with enough prayer she would somehow survive. Her fight became a rollercoaster of uncertainty, and my faith was tested. But she must have made some sort of deal with God, for her only wish was to survive long enough for me to graduate high school. Mom died my junior year of college, leaving me in a wake of internal chaos to handle on my own.

Yes, I know, we all go through the syndrome of why do bad things happen to good people. I read lots of books on the subject. In the meantime, a series of initial career missteps led me to becoming a teacher and getting married. Following in the footsteps of my sister, I (finally) finished my master’s degree. Even though I began this degree years before, it was put on hyperdrive when I was diagnosed with cancer and our daughter was born a month prematurely in order for me to begin treatment.

To say that our family has endured a great deal of medical traumas since 2000 would be an understatement. There were nights we didn’t know if yet another tumor removed would be cancerous, our daughter had hospitalizations of her own, I missed her Confirmation because of the removal of a section of infected colon, I had a second cancer diagnosis, and my husband had a rare heart diagnosis on his 50th birthday. Our family members and friends have had their own major health diagnoses, too.

With each battle comes scars, both mental and physical, that take a toll on a marriage and relationships. But we moved forward because that’s what we are told to do. Jump back into life without taking time to process because grit is what is needed to be a role model to a young daughter, a family that loves you, and a demanding job with students you want to rejoin. I felt the pressure to prove that I was alright when I wasn’t. Now my “can do spirit” is in hibernation.

J.D. Vance’s essay asks many of the questions I have had on and off throughout my life and are still confronting today. What’s it all for? What is my role in the world? Is accomplishment a list on a resume or how we treat others? Is our legacy a name on an edifice or a strong family?

Faced with the prospect of death (mine and those dear to me) on many occasions since 1980, I have sought God by doing all the things good Catholics do—love God, attend Mass, volunteer, and treat your neighbor as you wish to be treated. I did all the right things but never felt Him. Do I believe in God and Jesus? Yes. But, as I have often told others, I’m not sure they believe in me. Feeling hollow, my search for meaning continues.

And it is because of this search that I disagree with Marriott’s belief that the West will continue its secular path. Human beings are always yearning for understanding. A secular world view has not made civilization better, it’s made us less grounded and more selfish. We look to world leaders, influencers, social media likes, and celebrities as idols and place our trust in them without merit. The only truth is a world with God not without Him. And though I am in the midst of anguish, I still believe one day I will grow beyond the obstacles I face.

There are those that look at beautiful cathedrals built centuries ago as mere museums of a time gone by. But so many questions come to mind including: Why is Notre Dame Cathedral or Westminster Abbey still a tourist destination if they have no meaning? Why did laborers, craftsmen, artists, musicians, and writers create such beauty to praise a being that is false? Why was the Bible the first book to be mass produced? Why, even today, do martyrs suffer persecution rather than deny their faith?

Across the world there are faithful practitioners of religions. They can’t all be cultist, undereducated, chumps. Additionally, removing references to God from public squares, arresting those silently praying outside of abortion clinics, and separating God’s role in the history of our founding and our institutions has not made ourselves, our country, or the West, for that matter, safer or more secure.

But, I digress.

J.D. Vance’s journey led him to St. Augustine’s writing regarding Rome’s elites that summed up his feelings in the present. As Vance writes, "It was the best criticism of our modern age I’d ever read. A society oriented entirely towards consumption and pleasure, spurning duty and virtue.” His choice of becoming Catholic was that it was the most similar in values to the way his grandmother raised him:

“I slowly began to see Catholicism as the closest expression of her kind of Christanity: obsessed with virtue, but cognizant of the fact that virtue is formed in the context of a broader community; sympathetic with the meek and poor of the world without treating them primarily as victims; protective of children and families and with the things necessary to ensure they thrive. And above all: a faith centered around a Christ who demands perfection of us even as He loves unconditionally and forgives easily.”

I don’t believe in coincidences. J.D. Vance, whether becoming our next vice-president or not, will help vanquish secularism. He is a Yale graduate. He is calm and measured. He is not a zealot. He does not make excuses for the flaws within Christian and Catholic leadership. And he knows Catholicism was his choice, for there are other paths toward God.

Even Marriott understands that within the prevailing secularist West, religion based on centuries of moral foundation is still a prominent fixture. He writes, "Amid apathy and decline, conservative Catholicism stands out for its vigour. As liberal congregations shrink, traditional churches hold steady or grow.”

It is amazing that we need reminding that our country was founded by those seeking refuge from religious persecution while today believers are considered looney, extremist mavericks. Thank God for the mavericks.

Note: I want to publicly thank David Limbaugh. A few weeks ago, he posted on X that he knew that there were people struggling with their faith. Anyone needing direction could reach out. And, thus, we began a short conversation via direct messaging. He and his daughters prayed for me, and he was kind enough to send me three of his books: Jesus on Trial, The Resurrected Jesus, and The Emmaus Code. We have never met and only “like” each other’s posts occasionally. His kind outreach to me is greatly appreciated, and I feel such gratitude for his Christian fellowship.

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