White Evangelicals Aren’t Sure About Ramaswamy. But for Indian American Christians, He’s a No-Go.

OTOH, Trump is just faking Christianity for the votes!

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/august/ramaswamy-hindu-modi-republican-judeo-christian.html

At 38 years old, Vivek Ramaswamy stands out among his fellow Republican presidential candidates for his age alone. The self-made billionaire has further set himself apart by saying he would ban social media for children, proposing to raise the voting age to 25, and espousing controversial views on 9/11. But when running in a party with a strong evangelical Christian wing, perhaps his most unique characteristic is his Hindu faith, which Ramaswamy has proudly discussed.

A Tamil Brahmin, Ramaswamy grew up speaking Tamil, visiting Hindu temples, and performing Hindu rituals at home. (Tamil Brahmins are a diverse group of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, situated at the apex of the caste hierarchy, and are often associated with conservative traditions, and cultural and intellectual privilege.) He and his wife, Apoorva Ramaswamy, are raising their two young sons in the faith.

For Indian American Christians, Ramaswamy’s faith practices don’t present a problem. But they’ve worried about his open admiration for Modi, who has been accused of compromising democracy, Hinduizing the country, and ignoring religious violence against minorities.

And the average American voter’s ignorance about the nuances of Hinduism and Hindutva work to Ramaswamy’s advantage, says Sam Beera, an IT professional from Boston.

“I don’t think the average white conservative Christian knows much about Hinduism or Hindutva, other than yoga, elephants, or Modi. That is a big asset for Ramaswamy,” said Beera. “There is an alarming lack of knowledge on the clear and present danger of Hindutva, which is an ideology modeled on Nazism.”

Currently, nearly five million people of Indian descent live in the US. According to a 2014 Pew report, Hindus constitute just around 51 percent of the diaspora population, compared with 18 percent identifying as Christians. Up until this point, the most visible Indian Christians have been Republicans Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley (a convert from Sikhism). Both previous governors, Jindal ran for president in 2016, and Haley announced her own bid several months ago.

Ramaswamy has in the past delivered the keynote for fundraisers for political advocacy groups linked to the US chapter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA or World Hindu Council of America), notes Pieter Friedrich, an American who advocates for persecuted Christians in India. VHPA is the US wing of the VHP (World Council of Hindus), which the CIA classified as a “militant religious organization” in 2018.