Progressive activist Fr. James Martin took aim at Vice President JD Vance for a speech he gave at the fifth annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C. In his speech, the VP reiterated Trump’s promises to support religious liberty. Vance recounted Trump’s victories during his first term and promised to continue prioritizing the issue.
The vice president explained that religious freedom is “the bedrock of civil society in the United States of America” and the steps the Trump administration has already taken to protect it. “He took decisive action to defend religious liberty, combat antisemitism and preserve the conscience rights of hospital workers and faith-based Ministries as they provide care to their fellow Americans, and to remove barriers from religious organizations and businesses to contract with the federal government,” he stated.
Vance defended the president’s move to halt funds to nongovernmental organizations. “In recent years, too often, our nation’s international engagement on religious liberty issues has been corrupted and distorted to the point of absurdity,” he explained. “Think about this: How did America get to the point where we’re sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars abroad to NGOs that are dedicated to spreading atheism all over the globe?”
The woke Martin was engaged by Vance’s Speech. “Religious freedom is essential for the free practice of religion, but for the Christian, that practice requires caring for the poor, including the “stranger,” here and abroad,” he angrily replied. ” So we shouldn’t use “religious freedom” as an excuse not to care for the “least” of our brothers and sisters–including through NGOs that feed the poor and help the sick–as Jesus commands (Mt. 25). Otherwise, what’s religious freedom for?”
Online commentators were quick to pounce on the woke catholic. “If an organization were truly an NGO (NON-governmental organization) then it wouldn’t get government/taxpayer money. As soon as an organization takes government money it’s a GOVERNMENT organization,” said one user. “It’s definitional. “Charity” is a personal virtue, not a government program.”
Another fired back, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8 You are a subversive, and you twist the word of God for evil. Repent.” “Yeah “religious freedom” does not require the expenditure of government funds. Nobody is stopping any Christian from caring for the poor with their own time and money. Get lost, grifter,” one account quipped.
Other users quoted his post to disprove Friar Martins’s claims: “Yes, as individuals, we are called to help the poor but not with our tax dollars. This is how you globalists have distorted our mission. You claim it’s an obligation of taxpayer dollars. False!” Others reacted more bluntly: “Like funding propaganda to promote Atheism? You’re done, padre. Exit before the tar & feathers show up?”
Watch part of Vance’s speech right here:
In his concluding remarks, Vance confirmed the importance of religious freedom. “The church was a place… where people of different races, different backgrounds, different walks of life came together in commitment…to their God,” he said. “Are these not the kinds of bonds and virtues [that] lawmakers today should strive to cultivate? Well, I’m pleased to say that they certainly were in the first Trump administration, and they will be even more so in the second.”
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