Examining the Quotes: What Jd Vance Actually Said About Faith and Divine Calling in 'Communion'
By Alexander Ross
Social media feeds flattened hundreds of pages of dense intellectual reflection into a single inflammatory quote. The phrase "God chose me" trended widely following the mid-June release of Communion, with detractors framing the memoir as evidence of unrestrained hubris. Commentators argued that Vance viewed his rapid rise from freshman senator to vice president as an anointed crusade.
A rigorous review of the full text disproves the viral claim. Vance never writes that God personally selected him over others to lead the country. Instead, the rumor arose from a misreading of a chapter detailing his discernment process during the 2024 campaign trail. In that passage, Vance discusses the classical Christian doctrine of vocation, suggesting that every believer occupies an assigned station within history that demands moral responsibility.
Online summaries stripped Vance’s writing of its traditional Catholic vocabulary. By turning an Augustine-inspired meditation on duty into a blunt assertion of divine entitlement, online partisans produced an effective caricature. Vance’s actual argument is subtler, though no less provocative for readers who favor a strict divide between faith and statecraft.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
