5 Ways JD Vance Stressed the Importance of Protecting Religious Liberty at National Prayer Meeting

Vance acknowledged that people may not agree with everything the new administration does. However, he did feel that between protecting the rights of pro-life protestors, protecting the rights of the unborn, and protecting the religious liberty of all people, President Trump has already been a good president for all believers in America.

Vance referenced how President Trump has gone in “the exact opposite” direction of the Biden administration where the pro-life movement is concerned. 

Trump has signed executive orders designed to protect the rights of pro-lifers who want to pray in front of abortion clinics, participate in the pro-life movement in meaningful ways, and bring an end to partial-birth abortions on the federal level. 

Vance said he believes President Trump, more than any president in his lifetime, has focused on pursuing a path of peace. He pointed out how foreign policy can be an instrument that either impedes or sets people free to practice their faith. Unfortunately, Christians are one of the most persecuted groups in the world. Vance said he learned this at last year’s prayer breakfast. For this reason, Vance promised that the Trump administration would be one of the biggest defenders of religious liberty and rights of conscience. 

He pointed out that some of the biggest hindrances to religious liberty have come through carelessness. Vance admitted that sometimes it’s America’s “foreign misadventures that lead to the eradication of historical Christian communities all over the world.”

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Vance claimed that pursuing peace needs to be about more than bringing an end to wars such as the Russia-Ukraine war. He also said it needs to be about protecting religious liberties all over the world. 

“Over the past 40 years, it has often been historical Christian communities who bear the brunt of failed American policy, and that is, in my view, perhaps the most important way in which Donald Trump has been a defender of Christian rights all over the world; is he has a foreign policy that is oriented toward peace. We have done it already so much in the past 30 days, and I’m proud that we will work for peace in the remaining four years of President Trump’s term,” Vance said.

Vance made a point of encouraging attendees to continue to make their concerns known to the Trump administration about religious freedom and also to make a point of letting it be known when they feel things have been done well for upholding religious freedom. 

“I’ll make this commitment to you and before God and all those television cameras back there that we will always listen to people of faith and people of conscience in the United States of America. You have an open door to the Trump administration. Even, and especially, maybe, when you disagree with us. So please, use that opportunity to communicate with us when we get things right, but also when we get things wrong,” he said.    

He pointed out that he (and anyone in the Trump administration who is surrounded by secret service men for protection) lives in a “roving bubble” and that the only way those in the high levels of government truly know what the American people are thinking or feeling is when the American people speak out and tell them.

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Vance took some time to speak about his faith on a personal level. He noted how living out the teachings of his faith and what he believes daily are a significant part of helping him to grow deeper in his relationship with the Lord and become a more Christ-like person. 

The deepest and most important things he says he takes from his faith are “not material, they’re not GDP, they’re not the numbers that we see in the stock market. The real measure of health in a society is the safety and stability and the health of our families and our people.” 

He acknowledged that the Trump administration is in the business of producing prosperity, “but that prosperity is a means to an end. And that end is the flourishing, hopefully, of the life of every single citizen in The United States of America. That’s why we care about these things.”