Sen. Bernie Sanders rallies with supporters in St. Paul, Minn., March 2, 2020.(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)And his own religious faith is indistinguishable from belief in socialism.
Once upon a time, Bernie Sanders would have had another political vulnerability besides his socialism namely, his atheism.
In 2016, a DNC staffer had to apologize after the WikiLeaks hack exposed an email he wrote that suggested using Bernies atheism against him in the primary.
This year, Bernies religion or lack of it has barely made a ripple or even occasioned any comment. It used to be expected that serious presidential candidates would have religious faith and discuss it, in keeping with the religious coloration of the country they sought to govern. Just as the taboo against openly socialist candidates has given way, so has the old norm about religiosity eroded nearly to the vanishing point.
Sanders, a secular Jew, doesnt call himself an atheist. The way he puts it is that hes not actively involved in organized religion, and that he believes in God, just not in a traditional matter. To me, he has said of his religion, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together.
Asked by Jimmy Kimmel whether he believes in God, he said, I am what I am. And what I believe in, and what my spirituality is about, is that were all in this together.
Functionally, this means his religion is indistinguishable from the vision of solidarity undergirding his socialist politics.
Indeed, the connection to Israel that Sanders touts to prove that he is not anti-Israel had much more to do with a political commitment rather than a religious one.
He lived for a time on a kibbutz in 1963 as a guest of a secular, socialist youth movement. According to the New York Times, the kibbutz saw the Soviet Union as a model, and often flew the red flag at outdoor events. Sanders told a publication called Jewish Currents that it was there that I saw and experienced for myself many of the progressive values upon which Israel was founded.
His brother said of Bernie in a 2016 Washington Post interview that he is quite substantially not religious.
This makes Sanders an outlier in American life, but less of one than he used to be. According to the Pew Research Center, 26 percent of Americans says that they are atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular, up from 17 percent in 2009. The growth of the religiously unaffiliated can be seen across all demographic groups and regions but is especially pronounced among young people who are, of course, disproportionately Bernie supporters. Only 35 percent of Millennials attend religious services weekly or once or twice a month, while 64 percent attend a few times a year, seldom, or never.
The non-religious are Bernies base. A Pew survey in January found that Joe Bidens most supportive religious group was black Protestants, at 44 percent, followed by white Catholics and white evangelicals, at 37 percent each. Bernies best groups were agnostics (36 percent), atheists (30), and the unaffiliated (28).
In New Hampshire, Sanders lost to Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg among voters who attend religious services once a week or more and won among voters who never attend. A rare bright spot for Bernie in South Carolina was beating Biden among voters who never attend church, 36 to 24 percent.
Theres no rule that presidents have to be believers, or Thomas Jefferson never would have occupied the office. But presidential religiosity has advantages. Bill Clinton used it to signal to otherwise politically hostile parts of the county that he understood their values. It fortified George W. Bush under incredible pressure during the War on Terror. Barack Obama tapped the rhetorical power of church oratory.
The Sanders phenomenon is another indication of the weakening of American exceptionalism. When the social scientist Seymour Martin Lipset wrote about it decades ago, he underlined American religiosity and resistance to socialism. If he captures the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders will test how much either still matters or applies.
2020 by King Features Syndicate
See original here:
Bernie Sanders Is the Candidate of Nonbelievers - National Review
- Richard Dawkins has some regrets - Washington Examiner - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Keeping the faith: These religious groups are flourishing as atheism takes hold - The Age - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Pew study paints a picture of the average US atheist - Aleteia - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- 'There's No Science Behind That': Actor Rob Schneider Passionately Checkmates 'Bleak' Worldview Within Atheism - CBN.com - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- Atheists Find God at the Latin Mass: A Review of Mass of the Ages - CatholicCitizens.org - Catholic Citizens of Illinois - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- Is atheism destroying the moral fabric of society? - Big Think - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- The Logic of Faith - Adventist Review - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- Change of plans - USC News & Events - University of South Carolina - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- 71 Years Later, The Weirdest Religion in Sci-Fi History Is Back - Inverse - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- Twitter taught Microsofts AI chatbot to be a racist asshole in less ... - January 2nd, 2023 [January 2nd, 2023]
- Al-Qaeda: Islamist Qatar Bringing 'Homosexuals,' 'Atheism' to Middle ... - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]
- His View: Fear not the atheist; they just might be right - Moscow-Pullman Daily News - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Vatican II and the Rise of Atheism - National Catholic Register - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Atheists who believe in ghosts - OnlySky - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Religion at the Chinese Communist Party Congress: Christians Told They Should Become More Marxist - Bitter Winter - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- The Rise And Fall Of Sexual Sanity In Western Civilization - The Federalist - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Duchess of York, Sarah Fergie Ferguson, is 63 - iHeart - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- On the short life and sudden death of Soviet atheism - OnlySky - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Darwin and the New Atheists - Discovery Institute - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Researchers to explore why atheism is growing across the world - Newswise - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Census Northern Ireland: Academic gives warning over figures showing rise in atheism - Belfast News Letter - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- The Rise of the Evangelical Heretic - ChristianityToday.com - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Antitheism - Wikipedia - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Biden's global initiative to replace Christianity with atheism faces ... - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Researchers to explore why atheism is growing across the world - Brunel University News - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Functional atheism: Popular pastor delivers gut-check on what worry really reveals - The Christian Post - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Why did Britney Spears turn to atheism and Shia LaBeouf to faith? | Opinion - Deseret News - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Someone who seeks the truth finds God Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- On Religion: The faith questions that haunted the life of Gorbachev - GoDanRiver.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Atheism and Recovery What if I didn't have a mental illness? - Freethought Blogs - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Whatever Happened to Atheists? | Gene Veith - Patheos - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Four Very Short Introductions podcast episodes to get you thinking | OUPblog - OUPblog - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- BookLash: Are the cold, hard realities found within Bridge to Terabithia not for young, innocent minds? - The Wood Word - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- ABS to consult on religious classifications - The Mandarin - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- In defense of the Bible - iHeartRadio - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Mubarak Bala: Atheist Activism And Liberation From Religious Oppression In Nigeria By Leo Igwe - SaharaReporters.com - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Between Grace and Nature - The American Conservative - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Religious and spiritual practices may improve mental health in older adults - 2 Minute Medicine - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- If You Meet Richard Dawkins On The Road... - Daily Kos - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Why the World's Religions Are Dying a Slow Death - The National Interest Online - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Atheism still not always easy in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Believing Is Bad for You: At the Museum of Russian Icons, Images of Atheism - The Boston Globe - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- If You Meet the Buddha on the Road... Kill Him. - Daily Kos - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Hart's Turn To Heterodoxy | Gerald McDermott - First Things - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- For natural theologians, proving God was beside the point - Aeon - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Patrick Berg, MD To Speak On The Origin Of Life At Los Alamos Faith & Science Forum Wednesday - Los Alamos Reporter - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Head of gold and feet of clay - Deccan Herald - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Letter to the editor: LGBTQ+ students represented in Mt. Lebanon - TribLIVE - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Supreme Court ruling leads to jokes about the Church of Satan - indy100 - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Inside Amber Heards childhood, journey to atheism and early acting career - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Reason and Religion Go Hand in Hand Especially Paganism - Patheos - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Letter to the Editor: Find Out for Yourself What College Students Are Learning - Centralia Chronicle - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Meyer: Theistic Implications of the Multiverse - Discovery Institute - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Denton: How Science Leads the Charge to Theism - Discovery Institute - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- The Musician Who Gave Me the City and Stars, Vangelis, Is Dead - TheStranger.com - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Gospel in Art: If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you | ICN - Independent Catholic News - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Summer reading suggestions from Baylor Family authors - Baylor University - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Tired of the Media Promoting Atheism as Science? - Discovery Institute - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- The rise of 'apatheism' and what it means for Christians and the Gospel - The Christian Post - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- Images Of Atheism: The Soviet Assault On ReligionAntiques And The Arts Weekly - Antiques and the Arts Online - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Imagine Theres No Svarga: Rediscovering Crvka, Indias 2,700-Year-Old Atheistic Tradition - Quillette - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Confucianism: Atheism or Religion? 2. In Search of Confucius - Bitter Winter - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Why Elon Musk's ambition to have Twitter authenticate all real humans will get people killed - Rest of World - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Floyd Dell's illustrious writing career started in Quincy - Herald-Whig - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Exorcisms: Giving Witness to the Resurrection - Relevant Radio - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- The Answer to Ayla's prayer - The Catholic Weekly - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- Book Review: Can Scientists Be Religious? The Wire Science - The Wire Science - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- Spain: Atheism and agnosticism on the rise in pandemic times - Evangelical Focus - April 22nd, 2022 [April 22nd, 2022]
- Atheists, spurred by growing ranks, gather for first time since start of pandemic - Religion News Service - April 22nd, 2022 [April 22nd, 2022]
- Stephen Meyer: Totalitarian Dystopias and the God Hypothesis - Discovery Institute - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Suzanne Harrington: It's refreshing that no religion is acknowledged on the census - Irish Examiner - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- The trial of Anaxagoras: a soliloquy - TheArticle - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Faith, Science, and Francis Collins - The New Yorker - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- EDITORIAL: On Russia, the ANC shows its moral atheism - BusinessLIVE - March 4th, 2022 [March 4th, 2022]
- Invasion of Ukraine and Russian literature III - MM News - March 4th, 2022 [March 4th, 2022]
- Percentage Of Atheists In America By State - WorldAtlas - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Atheism in China: How the Communist Party Proves that God Does Not Exist - Bitterwinter.org - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- China: The 2022 Olympics and Scientific Atheism - FSSPX.Actualits - FSSPX.News - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Studying Abroad: 'Encountering God as an Atheist' | Features | valpotorch.com - The Torch - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Why I Am Catholic Will Herrmann - TheCatholicSpirit.com - The Catholic Spirit - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]