On becoming catholic - Elizabeth Dias in NYT:

‘From his new home in Cincinnati, JD Vance would go to St. Gertrude to meet the friar.
It was a fitting place for the millennial aspiring politician, who was drawn to the Roman Catholic Church’s ancient ways. For years he had flirted with joining the church. Now he wanted to explore the desire in earnest.’

(…)

‘Much has been made of Mr. Vance’s very public conversion to Trumpism, and his seemingly mutable political stances. But his quieter, private conversion to Catholicism, occurring over a similar stretch of years, reveals some core values at the heart of his personal and political philosophy and their potential impact on the country.
Becoming Catholic for Mr. Vance, who was loosely raised as an evangelical, was a practical way to counter what he saw as elite values, especially secularism. He was drawn not just to the church’s theological ideas, but also to its teachings on family and social order and its desire to instill virtue in modern society.’

(…)

‘His small, energetic world of conservative Catholic intellectuals, lawyers and politicians prioritizes its traditional views on family, as well as the public value of Christianity. It sees allies in people like Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
And this slice of the Christian movement has grown and increased in power in Republican circles, even as its views seem out of step with the American mainstream.’

(…)

‘“I would be judged on, did I get a Supreme Court clerkship, did I work at a fancy bank or consulting or law firm,” he said in a 2021 podcast. “I just realized to myself, this is an incredibly hollow and even gross way to think about character and virtue.”’

(…)

‘“Look, my basic view is that if the Republican Party, if the conservative movement stands for anything — and I’m running as a politician trying to advocate for what we should stand for — the number one thing that we should be is pro-babies and pro-families,” he said at the Napa event. “That’s what this whole thing is all about.”’

(…)

‘Designed by an architect in the 1960s determined to counter the “God is dead” philosophy of his time, St. Gertrude was built to show that the church could be both modern and deeply rooted in the past. On summer evenings, friars hosted “Drinking With Dominicans” at a local bar to explore the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas. It advertised retreats for husbands and fathers on how to become “a courageous leader for your family and in your workplace.” And like Mr. Vance, it is deeply opposed to abortion. Parishioners bring their own hammers to pound thousands of small white “crosses of the innocents” into the lawn to commemorate children not born.
Adults who convert to Catholicism tend to be known for their zealous commitment to their new worldviews. They are rare, just 2 percent of the adult population, according to the Pew Research Center. And for every one new convert, six Catholic adults have left the church.’

(…)

‘After his conversion, he had planned to write a second book to be called “A Relevant Faith: Searching for a Meaningful American Christianity.” But after he won his Senate primary, his publisher announced that the deal would not proceed.
Instead, he is raising his three children in the Roman Catholic Church, and bringing his views directly to the American political stage.’

Read the article here.

Converts tend to be always zealots.

Worldly achievements are hollow, but the fight against abortion gives meaning to everything.

And a political career instead of a second book is just the most obvious path to achieve it. It’s of course possible that all this is sheer opportunism – the conversion to Trump looked very much like that – but the conversion to Catholicism would be a bit bizarre in that case.

The revolution has become a fight against modernity. All branches of monotheism are participating in this revolution.