VIDEO: Pence responds to Joy Behar calling him mentally ill for listening to Jesus

To call out Behar, and by extension ABC, for an attack on faith as tantamount to mental illness is so obviously needed that it's more like a box-check than any example of real courage. Even so, Pence is decidedly firm and unapologetic in laying out his case, and he needed to be:

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On this one Pence's instincts were more Republican than they were Christian

Here's where I think his comments could have been more powerful, though: Pence hints at the idea that this is about more than just a poke at faith in general. That's what he's getting at when he refers to different types of faith. What Behar specifically likened to mental illness was the idea that someone can actually hear from Jesus. She claims to be a Christian herself, but apparently boxes her own Christianity into a style that doesn't really believe there is any specific guidance on offer from the Lord. That's where Pence could have made more impact. Rather than treat Behar's statement (not to mention the original slam from Omarosa) as a mere attack on faith, he could have cited John 14 as evidence that the Holy Spirit absolutely serves as the Counselor, and guides us into all truth. He could have referenced 1 Corinthians 2:14 and explained that these things are spiritually discerned, which is why the worldly and learned don't catch them. You may object that it's not the job of the vice president to give us a Bible lesson. I disagree. The vice president was called out by ignorant people - both of whom claim to be Christians - for living as if he believes what the Bible says. I can't think of a more perfect situation to dive into what the Bible says and explain while you've got everyone's attention exactly how God speaks to His people and how He provides that guidance into truth. Instead, his statement was good, but only good because your main takeaway is that people were mean to Christians. That is nowhere near as powerful as what he could have taught the nation about how to receive wisdom from God. Oh well. On this one Pence's instincts were more Republican than they were Christian.

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