How Jindal Traded Vishnu for Jesus

When political observers talk about Bobby Jindal’s vice presidential credentials, they often mention that his devout Christian faith might sway the base. It’s a curious advantage for the Hindu-raised son of Punjabi immigrants, but Jindal’s conversion was the sincere product of a deep spiritual quest, the Wall Street Journal reports. “I did not have an overnight epiphany,” says Jindal, but a “very intellectual-based journey.”

Jindal converted as a teenager after seeing a video re-enactment of the Passion. The images just hit him, he says: “If that was really the son of God… then I felt compelled to get on my knees and worship him.” But the conversion, however sincere, has made Jindal, in the words of the American Hindu Foundation’s director, “a mix of hope and disappointment” for Indian-Americans. (More Bobby Jindal stories.)