Vance and Dreher Unite at Live Not by Lies Screening: A Voice for Faith and Freedom

Credt: Rod Dreher's Diary; Substack.com

At a private screening of Live Not by Lies in Washington, D.C., Vice President JD Vance praised author Rod Dreher and warned that the West is facing a creeping “soft totalitarianism” rooted in the abandonment of its Christian foundations. The event, hosted by the Heritage Foundation, featured the debut of the Angel Studios documentary series based on Dreher’s 2020 bestseller, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents.

Vance’s speech echoed themes from his February address at the Munich Security Conference, where he criticized European leaders for suppressing free speech. “The ruling elite have become actively hostile to the very ideas on which their countries were founded,” he said, pointing to recent cases of Europeans arrested for silent prayer.

The vice president lauded Dreher’s work as “prophetic,” crediting it with diagnosing the spiritual crisis underlying the West’s political and cultural decay. He argued that under President Trump, the U.S. has made progress restoring free speech and protecting religious values, particularly for pro-life advocates and dissenting voices on social media. Vance was silent, however, on the administration's unconstitutional crackdown on speech critical of Israel—where governmental and grassroots abuse of Christians is ever present.

Dreher, in turn, affirmed Vance’s remarks but urged continued vigilance. Drawing from the insights of Hannah Arendt, he warned that societal atomization and moral apathy are the breeding grounds for totalitarian control. He stressed the importance of passing on the truth about communism to a younger generation increasingly drawn to socialism. “This film and this book are acts of memory,” Dreher said. “We must not forget, and we must teach.”

The friendship between Vance and Dreher is more than political—it’s deeply cultural and spiritual.

For Orthodox Christian Americans, their alliance offers rare representation at the highest levels of U.S. leadership. Abroad, especially in places where religious freedom is fragile, it sends a message of solidarity: faith can still shape the public square, even in secular times.

As Dreher’s message reaches new audiences and Vance continues to spotlight faith in policy, Orthodox communities both at home and overseas find in their collaboration a hopeful sign that Christian witness in the public sphere is not only possible—but powerful.

UOJ-USA has previously reported on how Vance's faith is both a driving force for his political life, and the primary reason he is so hated by the Globalists.

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