'God resides in each of us': 4 highlights from Vivek Ramaswamy's Iowa town hall

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, January 11, 2024

1. Ramaswamy: ‘God still resides in each of us’

Ramaswamy fielded a question from an audience member who asked him to elaborate on his “experience attending Christian schooling while not identifying as a Christian” and inquired as to whether he thought it was possible “for families with a focus in secular humanism to have a similarly positive experience in religious education” or a place in his movement in light of its underlying belief that “God is real.”

“I was the lone Hindu student in a Catholic high school in Cincinnati,” he recalled. “I did take a lot away from that religious education despite not converting to Catholicism at the end of it.”

Ramaswamy identified his “core belief system” as centered around the facts that “there’s one true God, God puts us here for a purpose, it’s our moral duty to realize that purpose” and that “we’re all equal because God still resides in each of us.” While Ramaswamy acknowledged “it’s a different faith and a different theology,” he insisted “there is deep compatibility” between the principles of his Hindu faith and the Judeo-Christian philosophy.

After summarizing some of the Ten Commandments, Ramaswamy assured the non-religious voter that “If I, as a Hindu, can certainly find common purpose with those shared values,” then secular voters “can also find common cause with those values.” He also maintained that those who “disagree with some of those values” are “still protected by the same constitutional rights.”

Ramaswamy concluded his response by stressing his belief that “we are one nation under God” and expressed his disgust that “we have turned God into a four-letter word.” He added, “That doesn’t mean that if you’re an atheist, somehow you’re not welcome in this country,” assuring the audience member that “as long as you share the shared commitments to the Constitution, you’re still an American and that’s what matters.”