(MENAFN- Live Mint) US Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy, who supports presidential candidate Donald Trump, was recently asked to describe the "God" he has been speaking about. During his“You've Been Brainwashed Tour” earlier this week, a man from the audience asked the Indian-origin American entrepreneur his Hindu faith and how it fits into the US.
The man asked, "Throughout the course of this lecture, you talked an awful lot about god and faith, and there were some men who came here and asked you about your Hindu religion."
The man suspected that Ramaswamy "would have omitte who that god was" had he not "explicitly" been asked about Hinduism.“Most of the people in the room here would believe that you were talking bout the only true God, Jesus Christ.”
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The man went on to say, "God has a name and Hinduism is a wicked , pagan religion and it's completely incompatible with America." He "challenged" Ramaswamy to say who this God is. "Is it Waheguru, the one that was blasphemously prayed to at the RNC? Is it one of these other Hindu deities, or is it our lord and saviors Jesus Christ," the man asked.
Later when Ramaswamy started answering his question , the student interrupted him half-way, saying that he never“volunteered” the information about his Hindu religion, rather it had to be“pried out” of him. "You mentioned God and you consistently omitted his name", the student said.
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Vivek Ramaswamy said, "The question of whether or not that somebody of non-Christian faith can embody and lead the United States of America at any meaningful level is an open question."
As he picked up his mic, Ramaswamy said he had "a lot of harsh challenges than this one, so don't pat yourself on the back too hard there." Don't want you to sprain your back with that one," he said. The audience then broke into applause. The former presidential candidate quipped,“I don't want you to go with a back sprained."
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Addressing the question on his faith, Ramaswamy,“You run for US President at the age of 37. As somebody who's been in business, who's actually...easiest thing to call myself, some Vic Ramsey and pretend to be a Christian, got other people on that debate stage last time who shortened their names and called themselves to be a Christian, too."
"I man up and tell you who I am, and believe me, your suspicion is off base. Listen to any number of the campaign speeches I gave over thousands of them over the course of the last year. So, we can take the disingenuous accusation off the table, but level with what I do think is an interesting coming,” Ramaswamy said.
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Ramaswamy termed the student's accusations as "false". He said,“So watch about the last presidential campaign of last year. And you apparently have had your head stuck in the sand where it need not belong."
"Now, what I think we need more of in our American politics is less of questioning the motivations of what somebody is and get to the content of where there's an actual difference of opinion," said Ramaswamy.
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He added,“So the question of whether or not somebody of a non-Christian faith can embody and lead the United States of America at a meaningful level is an open question.”
On Thomas Jefferson – 'an enemy of Christianity'
He went on to refer the third US President, Thomas Jefferson. Ramaswamy said, "Some on the left reject Thomas Jefferson because he was a“slaveholder.” Some on the right reject him because he was a“deist” & “an enemy of Christianity.”
Ramaswamy asked the student, "Thomas Jefferson is on the other side of the question from you. Thomas Jefferson was not a traditional Christian. Do you know what the Jefferson Bible is?" The man from the audience replied,“He's an enemy of Christianity.”
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Ramaswamy replied saying, "So, this is where we disagree." He added, "If you believe that Thomas Jefferson as a Deist would've been unqualified to be US president, then I guess you and I see the future of the United States of America differently."
"It so happens that he was the person who signed this document called the Declaration of Independence, which is the greatest mission statement known to a country in the history of mankind, without which the United States of America would not exist," Ramaswamy said.
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He went on to say, "He was the third US president who signed the Lewis and Clark Expedition, without which we literally wouldn't have the United States of America, so if you view him as some kind of deviant who should've never been in the US presidency that's a permissible point of view. It's just not one that I don't share."
"And my view is very similar to that of Thomas Jefferson is that it's the commitment to the constitution that matters whether or not you'll lead the country. The beauty of our nation is that we're able to have different points of view and earnestly engage in an open exchange," Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy is an Indian-American entrepreneur who supports the Republican Party's nominee Donald Trump in the run up for the US presidential post.
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