{"id":13153,"date":"2019-04-15T11:59:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T15:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=13153"},"modified":"2019-04-15T16:24:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T20:24:42","slug":"pete-buttigieg-starts-campaign-attacks-pences-christian-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2019\/04\/pete-buttigieg-starts-campaign-attacks-pences-christian-faith","title":{"rendered":"Pete Buttigieg Starts Campaign With Attacks on Pence\u2019s Christian Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"WhiteHouse.gov\"<\/a>
WhiteHouse.gov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Discussion of the 2020 presidential election is already heating up. A host of Democratic senators, representatives, mayors and governors have all thrown their hats in the ring. The official nomination will likely not be decided until summer of 2020, but Democratic hopefuls are already working to earn the winning spot in the primaries. A few of the would-be presidential nominees have kept their focus largely on political issues. Many of them, however, have also leveled ad hominem attacks at their opponents. In the case of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, they have also lashed out at their opponents\u2019 faith, more specifically, Mike Pence\u2019s strong Christian faith.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg had repeatedly addressed remarks that some interpreted as anti-Christian to \u201cthe Mike Pences of the world.\u201d Pence himself, however, did not lash out in return. Pence did not shy away from the fact that Buttigieg said \u201csome things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally. And he knows better. He knows me.\u201d Still, Pence stated that he hoped \u201c[Buttigieg] will offer more to the American people than attacks on my Christian faith or attacks on the President as he seeks the highest office in the land\u2026 He’d do well to reflect on the importance of respecting the freedom of religion of every American.”<\/p>\n

Pence said that he \u201cconsidered [Buttigieg] a friend\u201d and noted that the two of them \u201cworked very closely together\u201d when Pence was serving as governor of Indiana. \u201c[Buttigieg] knows I don’t have a problem with him,\u201d Pence said. \u201cAll of us have our own religious convictions. [Buttigieg] has his convictions, I have mine.”<\/p>\n

Pence also suggested that Buttigieg\u2019s issue was not with Pence personally but with the Constitution and the protection it guaranteed to Pence\u2019s religious beliefs, beliefs with which Buttigieg did not agree.<\/p>\n

“I think Pete’s quarrel is with the First Amendment,\u201d Pence said. \u201cAll of us in this country have the right to our religious beliefs. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. I draw my truth from God’s word.”<\/p>\n

Buttigieg self-identifies as a liberal Christian, but he has drawn the ire of many mainstream and conservative Christians for what appears to be a \u201cmy way or the highway\u201d approach to Christianity. Many believe that attacks on traditional Christian values and ways of thinking are simply a way of pandering to leftist voters. This may be true, but it does not make his remarks less worrying or damaging in a time when Christian persecution is on the rise. One can only hope that Buttigieg will come to live out the faith he claims to follow and search for common ground with his political opponents rather than demonizing them in an attempt to win a few voters to his cause.<\/p>\n

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Discussion of the 2020 presidential election is already heating up. A host of Democratic senators, representatives, mayors and governors have all thrown their hats in the ring. The official nomination will likely not be decided until summer of 2020, but Democratic hopefuls are already working to earn the winning spot in the primaries. A few…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2444,32,5],"tags":[2533,2384,2430,2532],"class_list":["post-13153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-christian","category-politics","tag-2020-election","tag-anti-christian","tag-mike-pence","tag-pete-buttigieg"],"yoast_head":"\nPete Buttigieg Starts Campaign With Attacks on Pence\u2019s Christian Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pete Buttigieg has thrown his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination, and his campaign began with attacks on Mike Pence\u2019s Christian faith.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pete Buttigieg 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