"Every great religion in the world -- Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism --essentially comes to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you," he said during CNN's Democratic town hall event on Tuesday night.
Though Sanders was raised Jewish and believes in God, he identifies as a secular rather than a religious Jew. He doesn't often address his religion, and The New York Times notes that he sometimes even shies away from using the term "Jewish."
But asked about his faith on Tuesday, he boiled it down to the belief that "we have got to work together."
"It's very easy to turn our backs on kids who are hungry or veterans who are sleeping on the street, but I believe that what human nature is about is that everybody in this room impacts everybody else in all kinds of ways that we can't understand." he said. "That's my religion. That's what I believe in."
You know that's also what I believe in.
I obviously would not characterize it as my religion, but it is my philosophy.
I have to admit this is the answer concerning religion that I have been waiting to hear from a presidential candidate, and it is like music to my ears.
However having said that, it is also yet another reason why Sanders is unlikely to win a general election.
For all intents and purposes Bernie has just outed himself as an Atheist. And NOBODY is more reviled and mistrusted in this country more than Atheists.
Christians especially are terrified of those who do not identify as religious, believing that morality is impossible without a belief in God.
Preferably their god.
So even though Bernie Sanders has lived an incredibly ethical and honest life, the mere fact that he refuses to identify as religious, or let's face it Christian, makes winning the presidency a fantasy.
And believe me, probably nobody wishes that were less true than I.
Source http://ift.tt/1pf6rQI
