Lady Gaga, currently in a Las Vegas residency, said during her show Saturday night that Vice President Mike Pence was an awful representation of Christianity.
While in the middle of performing “Million Reasons,” the singer called on Donald Trump to reopen the government before digging into his right-hand man.
… And to Mike Pence, who thinks it’s acceptable that his wife work at a school that bans LGBTQ? You are wrong.
You say we should not discriminate against Christianity? You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice, and everybody is welcome.
So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and you can look yourself in the mirror. And you’ll find it right there.
In theory, she’s not wrong about Pence. He’s someone conservative Christians love without hesitation or asterisks (unlike Trump), yet he’s proudly used his faith to justify the same bigotry and hate. Then, when criticized, he just claims it’s religious persecution. Karen Pence didn’t give a second thought to how Immanuel Christian School discriminates against LGBTQ people because her faith absolves her from giving a damn. This is how the Pences operate.
They are better known for who they’re against than what they’re for, and if that’s what modern evangelicals want to celebrate, it’s no surprise more people want nothing to do with the faith.
Is Pence the literal worst representation of Christianity? Maybe not. Politically, there’s at least a 34981283123-way tie between every Christian leader who defends this president and his policies. There’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders. There are parents who won’t let their kids see a doctor because it would get in the way of God’s Plan. There are plenty of Christians in prison for taking someone else’s life. (And somewhere, a pastor is tweeted out an angry comment about the real worst Christians are the ones who use the label but act like atheists.) But Pence is at least in the running. He has the bad ideas mixed with the power to implement them.
That said, Gaga’s definition of Christianity is far too generous. She says it bears no prejudice and everyone is welcome, but anyone who pays attention to the voices who bear the title of Christian know damn well that’s not how it works in practice. Some Christians are progressive and inclusive and wonderful. They’re in the minority. And everyone claims to represent what God wants. Everyone can twist scripture in their direction. Christianity is whatever you want to make of it. Pence uses it to hurt people. Gaga uses it to bring people into the fold. More power to her.
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