2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: What if Bernie were Bernice? [View all]pnwmom
(108,978 posts)For example, in this interview, he avoided answering when asked if he believed in God.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/24/bernie-sanders-our-first-agnostic-president/
Much of the attention paid to Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign has to do with the s-word: Can a socialist be elected president? How much of a socialist is he? What exactly is socialism?
What many haven't picked up on is that a Sanders presidency would be a first in a couple other ways. First, Sanders would be our first Jewish president. And second, while Sanders is culturally Jewish, he has said that he's "not particularly religious" and has been described by some as agnostic.
Asked during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show this week whether he believed in God, Sanders demurred.
"I am who I am," Sanders said. "And what I believe in and what my spirituality is about, is that we're all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe that as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-faith_n_7174514.html
5 Faith Facts About Unabashedly Irreligious Bernie Sanders
Sanders is the presidential contender most willing to dissociate himself from religion. Though he identifies as Jewish and by Jewish law is Jewish, he has freely acknowledged that he is not a religious person. He scored a solid zero from Ralph Reeds Faith and Freedom Coalition in its most recent scorecard and a 100 from the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America.
http://americablog.com/2015/10/bernie-sanders-just-came-reeeeeeally-close-to-coming-out-as-an-non-believer.html
Bernie Sanders just came reeeeeeally close to coming out as an non-believer
Bernie Sanders is Jewish the same way Im Jewish: emphasis on the ish. As the New Yorker reported in their October 12 issue, Sanders values his Jewish heritage, less for the religious content than for the sense it imbued in him that politics mattered. So while he still identifies as Jewish when asked, and his Jewish heritage has in many ways informed his political identity, he isnt all that observant. And in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday night, Sanders gave his clearest indication yet that, if elected, he would be both our first Jewish and first non-believing president (and no, those identities are not mutually exclusive):
SNIP
To be clear, Sanders really could have just been pivoting back to his core economic message. Then again, when a cultural Jew replaces faith or God with my spirituality, thats a pretty clear indication that, pace President Obama, God is not in the mix.