Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Religion
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders Denies Being a Sinister Atheist
Jan. 27, 2016, 11:44 AM
By Ben Mathis-Lilley
Bernie Sanders was raised in a Jewish family that, according to his brother, was "basically secular" and did not frequently attend synagogue. As an adult, he's reportedly not observant and speaks very rarely about his personal religious beliefsa characteristic that was underlined during Tuesday's Democratic town hall in Iowa when Hillary Clinton described herself as "a Christian" and a "person of faith." Asked whether he believed in God during an October 2015 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, Sanders answered elliptically. A 2015 Gallup opinion poll, meanwhile, found that 40 percent of Americans say they would not vote for an "atheist" in a presidential election.
With this all in mind, it seems somewhat inevitable that Sanders would be asked about the subject again, and it looks like the Washington Post got to him first:
I am not actively involved with organized religion, Sanders said in a recent interview.
Sanders said he believes in God, though not necessarily in a traditional manner.
I think everyone believes in God in their own ways, he said. To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together.
Sanders said he believes in God, though not necessarily in a traditional manner.
I think everyone believes in God in their own ways, he said. To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together.
Is that answer enough to satisfy people who don't want to vote for a nonbeliever? It's certainly the most tentative claim of spiritual belief that's been made by a major-party candidate in recent memory, right?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/27/bernie_sanders_believes_in_a_version_of_god_he_says.html
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 728 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bernie Sanders Denies Being a Sinister Atheist (Original Post)
rug
Jan 2016
OP
djean111
(14,255 posts)1. As an atheist, this makes me feel ten quadrillion times better than any bible-thumping
candidate does. I figure if a candidate feels they have to trot out how religious they are, I had better watch out. I am also, full disclosure, unmoved by adorable families. I figure I don't have to live with the politician, but I do have to live with what legislation they introduce or support. That's my bottom line.
rug
(82,333 posts)2. You were born 200 years too late.
The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.
-- John Adams, "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" (1787-88), from Adrienne Koch, ed, The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society (1965) p. 258, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church"
-- John Adams, "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" (1787-88), from Adrienne Koch, ed, The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society (1965) p. 258, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church"
Or he was born 200 years too early.