Indian-American United States (US) presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, while speaking on The Roseanne Barr Podcast, said that Hindu Americans need to do more to keep the scriptures alive and the faith relevant.
“I am a Hindu, I left my faith through my teenage years and early 20s and came back to it much strongly with conviction. My faith leads me to this journey of becoming the President. The core of my faith is there is one true God, he puts us through this journey for a purpose and he works through us. It is our job to realise our purpose….to use the God-given skills to do good in our country. The other core principle is we are all equal…," he said.
Commenting on Hindu Americans, Ramaswamy said, “The Jews in America do a good job of preserving tradition. Hindus don’t. That kind of community doesn’t exist. There are Christian pastors who will take the scripture and make it come to life…Some rabbis will also do that, maybe not to the extent of Evangelical Christians…Hindus are on the opposite end of the spectrum. At a Hindu temple, they wouldn’t dare have conversations about the kind of things we might be talking about, where we are in Phoenix at Amfest or otherwise…Much of it is done in Sanskrit, which is an ancient language that not many know. It is sort of like Catholics before the Vatican water or the first convention. One of the things I appreciate about Evangelical Christians and certain segments of the Jewish American community is the ability to keep the traditions alive to make their faith relevant. Hindu American community could hopefully do a better job of it. It is a relatively recent immigration wave of Hindus to the US over the past 50 years or so. There is a lot of time for it in the future."
Elaborating further, he said, “They stay Hindu, but take on a more ritualistic quality without having pastor figures who will make it applicable to the challenges you face in the daily modern life. If you open the Old or New Testament, you need to work to understand it. It needs someone who is learned, but lives in the present and works and builds bridges to make the scriptures come alive. That doesn’t exist in the US. It exists in India. In the version of it in the US, so far, it has been missing…"
“Not just religious tradition, it is the job of the people to pass on tradition, be it the Constitution or Declaration of Independence. We are not doing a good job of it."
Roseanne hit him with: “You don’t really want this job, do you?"
The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur responded: “I don’t covet the job."
“You don’t really want to the president of the US," she prodded.
“I expect to be the president of the US. From a personal want perspective, there are parts of it that seem like a sharp poke in the eye. But do I believe it is my duty to do this and that we can lead a national revival and it is my purpose here? Yes."
When asked about former US president Donald Trump, he said, “I like him…Everybody has been licking his boot for money and endorsements. I haven’t. I have been building businesses and this world of politics is a new terrain for me, but I respect him for what he did for this country…He kept us out of war and grew the economy. I am 38. I am the youngest person to run for President as a Republican. My generation and those younger than me are lost. My purpose is providing them with a sense of purpose…The America First agenda doesn’t belong to Trump or me or anybody. It belongs to the people of the country. Whether it is 2024 or 2028, I hope the agenda outlives Trump and all of us. We are not working with that much time though. I have two sons. If my older son is in high school before we get this right, there will be no country left…"
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