JD Vance’s ‘Communion’ Probes Faith and Modernity, but Leaves 1 Trump Question Unanswered
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 29
JD Vance’s ‘Communion’ Probes Faith and Modernity, but Leaves 1 Trump Question Unanswered
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 29
Summary
‘Communion’ casts elite modern life as a form of addiction, arguing that status, income and conformity corrode family life, work and moral judgment as deeply as the social pathologies Vance described in ‘Hillbilly Elegy.’
Vance roots the book in his return to Christianity and a Catholic language of guilt, repentance and grace, presenting that tradition as a way to rebuild character, mercy and social solidarity beyond left-right political orthodoxies.
The vice president also attacks economic arrangements that prize cheap migrant labor and profit over wages, ownership and family dignity, drawing on a social vision associated with Pope Leo XIII and union activism.
The review says the book’s central weakness is political: despite nuanced treatment of abortion and criticism of digital elites, Vance never explains why he aligned himself with Trump or how the administration reflects the book’s stated values.
That gap leaves ‘Communion’ less as a governing manifesto than as a personal moral inquiry, with its most urgent question aimed back at Vance himself and the company he keeps.