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President Trump says evangelical Christians thank him more for moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem than Jewish people. Buzz60

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, smiles along with Vice President Mike Pence, as President Donald Trump speaks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: OTKAB(Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON Weighing in on President Donald Trump's warning that there will be violence by his opponents if Democrats win control of Congress this fall, Vice President Mike Pence said he took the president to mean that Democrats want to undo everything Trump has done.

"But the presidents point as I took it, from where I was seated, was that the Democrat party in Congress is absolutely committed to reversing everything that weve been able to do for the American people," Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Networkin an interview excerptthat aired Thursday.

On Monday, Trump and Pence feted dozens of Christian pastors,ministers and other supporters from the evangelical communityat a White House dinner.

Trump warned thatDemocrats will overturn everything that weve done and theyll do it quickly and violently, accordingto an audiotape of his remarks provided to The New York Timesby someone who attended the event.

Asked by reporters Wednesday what he meant by the comments, Trump said, "I just hope there won't be violence."

"There's a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country, and I don't want to see it," he said.

In his remarks to evangelicals, Trump mentionedantifa, the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaninganti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis.

"When youlook at antifa, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people," Trump said, according to the Times.

Asked by CBN News why Trump mentioned antifa, Pence said: "Obviously we condemn any examples of violence on the streets of this country, zero tolerance for any violence against Americans."

Pence said the reason why evangelical leaders were invited to the dinner was to make sure that the American people know that Democrats want to reverse Trump's agenda, including his appointment of "strong conservatives" to the federal courts.

"Thats the choice we face," he said. "Thats what I took the president to say."

Trump's 2016 victory was boosted by white evangelicals, 81 percent of whom voted for him. Thats a greater share than the support garnered byGeorge W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012.

And evangelical leaders say Trump has delivered on promises to promote "religious freedoms," restrict abortions, appoint conservative judgesand recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

More: First year of Trump-Pence brings bountiful blessings, religious conservatives say

More: Mike Pence, 'Christian supremacist': 6 key takeaways from a new book

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Pence continues to take heat for his dogged fealty to Trump. Michael DAntonio and Peter Eisner, the authors of the new book The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence, call him a toady. George Will, the conservative columnist whos openly rooting for a Democratic midterm sweep, calls Pence Americas most repulsive public figure. When Pence stands behind Trump, rotely nodding at the latest pearls of Trumpian wisdom, he sometimes conjures images of a bobblehead doll, the kind kids get for free at ballparks.

But there is a calculated method to his muteness. The era of vice-presidential irrelevance is long gone, John Nance Garners description of the job as a bucket of warm spit is veritably antique, and Pence is certainly a far more potent character than the first of Indianas five veeps, Schuyler Colfax, who was dumped by Ulysses S. Grant and ultimately dropped dead at a railroad station. Nobody knew who it was until someone searched the body for identification.

Pence is carefully positioning himself for power, even as he suffers indignitiesperhaps most infamously in May 2017, when he publicly insisted, on four separate occasions, that Trump had fired FBI director James Comey only because Justice Department leaders had supposedly urged Trump to do so, and because it was based solely on the commitment to the best interests of the American people. Pence made that quoted remark on May 10. On May 11, Trump yanked the rug from beneath Pences feet. He told NBC News that hed fired Comey to reduce heat from the Russia probe: Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.

But while Pence endures embarrassment and plays the loyal soldier, he is slowly building his own political organizationincluding the Great America Committee, the first time a veep early in his first term has formed a PACand collecting IOUs from campaigning Republicans, all in preparation for the potential day of ascent. Its ironicsome would call it darkly comedicthat a conservative Christian moralist was rescued from an imperiled Indiana governorship by a man of manifestly shaky morals, and that he now stands ready to benefit from their odd coupling (his allies say, Mike will be ready), but thats politics. Or perhaps it is Gods will.

The biographers DAntonio and Eisener say that Pence believes the latter. They cite his favorite Bible verse: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. They cite Pences oft-quoted description of himself as a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order. Indeed, they write: Some may laugh, but many conservative Christians believe that God is merely using Trump to prepare the way for a so-called true man of faith.

And its precisely his evangelical certitude that animates the ongoing argument, among Trumps vociferous critics, over whether America would be better served with Pence in the White House. Its a bit of a parlor game, since Trump has signaled that he does not intend to leave earlier than January 2025, but it becomes more fervent whenever Mueller issues indictments or New York prosecutors coax Trump insiders to cooperate.

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The key to understanding Pences version of religion lies in his favorite bit of scripture, from Jeremiah, which reads: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This verse is now on display in the vice presidents residence. It is especially popular among Calvinists who believe that God directly orchestrates everything that happens on Earth.

Everything including Trumps presidency. The reality star, that is to say, was chosen by God. Granted, hes not a godly character. But conservative Christians troubled by Trumps profanity and infidelities can take comfort in the Bibles story of Cyrus, a pagan king who served God by protecting the Jews. Despite their vast numbers and power, many modern conservative Christians consider themselves to be oppressed like the ancient Jews. If Cyrus helped Jews, then why cant Trump champion conservative evangelicals?

During the 2016 campaign, an evangelists book about Cyrus and Trump Gods Chaos Candidate became a runaway best seller in the conservative Christian world. The story of Cyrus was taught in many churches.

Similarly, Pence is regarded by some as a modern version of another Old Testament figure, Daniel, who safeguarded his fellow Jews while functioning as counselor to another pagan ruler, Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel aided the Israelites by appearing to abandon his Jewishness in Nebuchadnezzars court. Pence, the argument goes, sets aside his moral standards to retain access to Trump. From his insider perch, he can do more good for religious conservatives than from the outside. And if he were to take that final step to the Oval Office, then the ends would justify the means.

Certainly no one should doubt the vice presidents ambition. He has reinforced his position by seeding the administration with personal allies and building a national campaign organization.

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God's presidential plan for Mike Pence - latimes.com

Americas semi-civil civil war continues, with religion a proxy for the political divide. In 2016, white evangelicals gave more than 80% of their vote to Donald Trump, a share even greater than among white working-class voters. On the other end of the spectrum, religious nones went for Hillary Clinton by better than 40 points.

Despite Trumps priapic escapades, the white evangelical community continues to stand squarely behind him. Franklin Graham, the late Billy Grahams son, threatened Americans with Gods wrath if they had the temerity to criticize the president. At the same time, Jerry Falwell Jr, head of Liberty University, the evangelical powerhouse, has torn into Clinton, Jeff Sessions, Trumps attorney general, and Rod Rosenstein, Sessions deputy. According to Falwell, they all deserve to rot in jail.

Yet even as Trump acts as the battering ram of choice for white America at worship, it is Mike Pence, the vice-president, who is the leading evangelical in the administration. Indeed, it was Pences standing within the evangelical community that helped boost him on to the ticket.

Like his boss, Pence both infuriates and elates. Pence: The Path to Power, written by Andrea Neal whom Pence as Indiana governor appointed to the state board of education in 2013 reads like a hagiography. Neal even compares Pence to the Bibles Queen Esther. The Shadow President, subtitled The Truth About Mike Pence and jointly authored by Michael DAntonio, a Pulitzer prize winner, and another veteran reporter, Peter Eisner, tells the story of a pol on the make.

Both books, however, make Pences religion central to their narrative. Quoting Pence, Neal writes that the vice-president has staked out three positions that have defined his core beliefs: Christian, conservative and Republican, in that order. As for The Shadow President, its first chapter is titled The Sycophant and it begins with a quote from I Corinthians 15:51: Behold, I tell you a mystery.

Pences story starts in Indiana. There, he journeys from Catholic to evangelical Protestant, and from two-time losing congressional candidate and radio talkshow host to congressman, governor and ultimately a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

As a congressman, Pence was a conviction politician who once wrote that global warming was a myth and that greenhouse gases are real but are mostly the result of volcanoes, hurricanes and underwater geologic displacements. He backed the war in Iraq and opposed George W Bushs expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs. Pence also successfully pushed for a presidential ban on the use of embryonic stem cells in research, and lost to John Boehner in a bid to be House minority leader.

When Pence ran for Congress, he eschewed big money. But by the time he left, he was a magnet for the likes of the Kochs

When Pence first ran for Congress, he eschewed big money. But by the time he left for the Indiana governors mansion, he was a magnet for the likes of the Kochs, the DeVos family and the Republican donor class. Trump now inveighs against the Kochs; it was Pence who was their pipeline to the administration. Yes, Mammon speaks.

As a governor Pence was almost forgettable but not quite, a proposition upon which both books concur. The Shadow President reports that in private, many Republicans said that Pence had been a middling governor who accomplished little. Neal quotes Jim Atterholt, former chief of staff: He was overscheduled, making too many small decisions, couldnt think, couldnt breathe.

One thing was certain: Pence was no Mitch Daniels, his predecessor who straightened out Indianas budget, served in the Reagan and Bush 43 White Houses, and is now president of Purdue University. A pro-life conservative and former executive at Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant, Daniels also understood where not to tread when it came to hot-button social issues.

Pence, not so much. He signed Indiana Senate Bill 101, the Religious Freedoms Restoration Act, which would have generally prohibited a governmental entity from substantially burdening a persons exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.

The act was viewed as a greenlight to discrimination against gays and lesbians and Pence didnt just sign it, he autographed several copies of it, according to Neal. In short, Pence spiked the football.

All hell broke loose. Indiana-based employers threatened to leave, the NCAA signaled it would boycott the basketball-crazed state, and three Indiana-based Fortune 500 companies, including Eli Lilly, urged immediate action to ensure that RFRA would not sanction or encourage discrimination.

Pence caved to the demands of reality and signed legislation that barred RFRA from being used as a cudgel for religiously driven discrimination, but only after being interviewed by ABCs George Stephanopoulos and emerging worse for wear.

Almost predictably, DAntonio and Eisner manifest their displeasure with Pence from the outset. They rightly tag him for his tropism toward other peoples money and his discomfort with modernity. All of which is understandable, to a point.

What is disappointingly left unaddressed is that the US is the worlds most religious wealthy country, where two-in-five claim to pray daily and where evangelicals comprise nearly the same ratio in our armed forces, despite being only a quarter of the population.

The fact is the first amendments free exercise clause was designed to protect those who embrace discomforting creeds. In a narrow 7-2 decision this June, the supreme court sided with a baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. In the majoritys view, the Colorado civil rights commission demonstrated hostility to the bakers religious beliefs by ordering him to undergo anti-discrimination training.

Politicians less doctrinaire and more capable of nuance than Pence may yet be able to achieve a modus vivendi. With the Democrats in desperate search of a foothold in red America, the percentage of religious nones growing and evangelicals not backing down anytime soon, that result may even be a matter of civil and political necessity.

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In his famous speech, Kennedy had asked for Gods blessing: As we set sail, we ask Gods blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked. Buzz Aldrin, who followed him, brought a small plastic container of wine and a piece of bread, and actually took Communion on the moon. The stunning success of the landing strengthened the notion that the United States was favored by God over other would-be spacefaring nations, Weibel says.

The holy cosmos: The new religion of space exploration

It was not clear for a long time who was going to do it, she says. If you see it as Team Atheist and Team God, and Team God wins, what does that tell you from their perspective?

Weibel says Pences remarks remind her of the language used by evangelical astronauts, a small but passionate group of people for whom spaceflight had an intense spiritual impact. Jim Irwin, the late Apollo astronaut, became an outspoken evangelical Christian after his lunar mission in 1971. In his memoir, Irwin wrote that he felt God was with him during his mission, like when he prayed for help with a mechanical problem instead of contacting mission control in Houston, and the solution came to him right after.

Jeffrey Williams, who flew to the International Space Station four times, has spoken similarly of sensing Gods presence in space. He also wrote of the experience of seeing Earth at a distance, as God would. In order to give you a glimpse of the wonders of Gods creation from this vantage point that Im talking about, I need to give you a perspective of what the vantage point is, Williams told a Christian radio program in 2011. So imagine yourself on the International Space Station, traveling 17,500 miles an hour, orbits the Earth every 90 minutes Imagine yourself going outside perhaps once in a while and hanging on to the outside and viewing Gods creation, we call Earth, down below.

Most of the evangelical astronauts emerged from the Apollo and space-shuttle eras, Weibel says. In the decades following the moon landing and first shuttle flights, the rhetoric around space exploration that had dominated during the Cold War began to fade. The mission shifted away from national defense and toward scientific discovery. Weibel says younger astronauts she has interviewed are less likely to invoke their predecessors convictions about the future of American space travel. Part of it is more recent astronauts have had to cooperate with the Russians, she says. You have crews on the ISS now that are multinational. For the Americans involved in that, theyre not under the sway of this idea of American exceptionalism.

Eventually, even Aldrin had second thoughts about partaking in a Christian tradition on the moon. Perhaps, if I had it to do over again, I would not choose to celebrate communion, Aldrin wrote in his 2009 memoir. Although it was a deeply meaningful experience for me, it was a Christian sacrament, and we had come to the moon in the name of all mankindbe they Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, agnostics, or atheists.

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Mike Pence and the Gospel of NASA - The Atlantic