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A freshman at Taylor University and a recent graduate share their perspective on Mike Pence chosen to deliver the opening speech.
Jenna Watson, [email protected]
WASHINGTON – The last time Vice President Mike Pence spoke at Liberty University, he used the backdrop of one of the largest Christian schools in the world to guarantee Donald Trump's religious credentials at the 2016 campaign.
When Pence returned to school on Saturday to deliver the opening speech, his remarks were more personal.
Pence, who has recently been criticized for his religious views, warned graduates to stay tough on the challenges of Hollywood, the media and the secular left.
"Some of the strongest voices in favor of tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs," Pence said. "Be ready."
With his wife, Karen, sitting on the stage as he spoke, Pence recounted the "hard attacks" that he endured when she returned to teach art at a Christian elementary school where she had worked in Congress. Unlike her previous stay, Karen Pence had to face scrutiny after reports revealed that the school banned gay students and teachers.
"In almost all American history, it has been pretty easy to call yourself a Christian," Pence said. "People have not even thought that you could be fled or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible. But things are different now. "
Pence added that graduates would not be required to tolerate acts that violate their faith, but also to approve them.
Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr., left, talks with Vice President Mike Pence at the opening ceremony of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia on Saturday, May 11, 2019 . (Photo: Taylor Irby, AP)
Pence did not specifically mention it, but he was a target of the presidential campaign, where the Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg drew attention for asking how Pence could reconcile his faith with his support for Trump and his opposition to gay marriage.
And the opening speech that Pence is due to make next week at a Christian school in his home country has divided Taylor University. An online petition launched by a Taylor alum complains that this address will make the school "an accomplice of Trump-Pence's administration policies, which we believe does not conform to ethics." Christian of the love that is dear to us ".
On the other hand, Pence received a warm welcome on Saturday at Liberty University, where President Jerry Falwell Jr. is a strong supporter of Trump. Four former students of the University of Liberty work in the office of Pence. Six of Saturday's graduates had attended Karen Pence's classrooms.
In 2016, when the broadcast of a video showing Trump grossly boasting of female genitals threatened to end his campaign, Pence went to the University of Liberty to urge people of faith to to gather for Trump.
"Gaps are not an excuse for inaction," Pence said.
After Trump took office, he chose Liberty University for his first speech. As Pence did this year, Trump in 2017 encouraged graduates to stay tough on critics. And he also thanked the participants for their support.
"Boy, did you come to vote," he said. "Boy, oh, boy, you voted, you voted."
About 81% of white evangelicals voted for the Trump / Pence ticket. This is more important than George W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012.
A recent Morning Consult poll shows why Pence's Saturday message that Christians are being attacked could resonate with his audience.
The April survey asked people if they felt respected by various types of groups, including night comedians, Wall Street workers, national journalists, and university professors in the United States. elite universities. Less than 30% of White Protestant Protestants felt respected by these groups. But nearly two-thirds said Trump respected "people like them".
"There is this feeling that Trump has quite intelligently identified and is one of the central elements of his call," said Daniel Cox, a university researcher in polls and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute. "He respects conservative Christians even though he is not one of them in the way he has lived."
Graduates are chatting as students continue to attend the inauguration ceremony of Liberty University in Lynchburg on Saturday, May 11, 2019. More than 45,000 people attended the event where the Vice President Mike Pence delivered the opening speech. (Photo: Taylor Irby, AP)
Pence mentioned the biblical figures of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego warning graduates that they will "be invited to bow down to the idols of popular culture".
The three men refused to worship a golden idol and were thrown into a fiery furnace. But after King Nebuchadnezzar saw them walking indistinctly in the flames, accompanied by the son of God, he had men removed and ordered them to worship their God.
"Just know this: if, like Shadrek, Meshach and Abed-Nego, you end up in the fire, there will be another in the fire," said Pence to the graduates, who applauded the reference.
Speaking "not as vice president but as brother in Christ," Pence encouraged students to "stand firm" and prepare to share the reason for their hope by doing so "with gentleness and respect."
"Because our nation and our world need this message of grace and love," said Pence, "perhaps more now than ever before."
More: Mike Pence: Why his role as Trump's evangelical ambassador faces a new setback
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