Bernie Sanders hasn’t focused his campaign on religion. It’s not unusual to see Presidential candidates assure the voters that they are Christians, or that they believe God called them to run for office. However, Sanders has been a visible exception to all of that.
Culturally Jewish, Sanders has said that he isn’t particularly religious. Though he is included on Celebrity Atheist List , he does not count himself a nonbeliever.
USA Today reported in September on a rare reference to his beliefs in Bernie’s campaign, when the Vermont Senator spoke about his concurrence with the Pope on income inequality.
“…my belief in God requires me to do all that I can to follow the ‘Golden Rule,’ to do unto others and as I would have them do unto me.”
However, his campaign has been notably devoid of religious references.
In fact, the Twitter account Sanders uses for his presidential campaign, which has been active since 2010, had, until yesterday, never tweeted the word ‘God.’ On Saturday, Sanders made his first reference to God, and, compared to many political declarations of what religious beliefs mean for America, it was a miracle of inclusion.
Some of us believe that what God teaches is to not turn our backs on our brothers and our sisters, that essentially we are in this together.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 12, 2016
Bernie’s first and only campaign tweet about God is a declaration that it’s our duty to stick together and help each other.
Sanders has another Twitter account, for his Senatorial position, with the handle @SenSanders. That one has tweeted the word ‘God’ a total of three times ever — once in a common phrase, once in an exclamation, and once, below, in a similar context to the above: to declare support for medical care for all.
When we talk about morality, what we are talking about is all of God’s children have a right to go to a doctor when they are sick.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 19, 2015
Hillary Clinton, similarly, has tweeted the word ‘God’ only once from her campaign account, and that, too, was in a context regarding equality.
. @POTUS is right: When we ensure black women and girls have the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential, America gets ahead. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 20, 2015
We see so many politicians using religion as a means to exclude. Just this morning, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick had to release a statement to assure the public that when he tweeted that people would ‘reap what they sow’ he didn’t mean that the mass murder in a gay nightclub was justified.
Only yesterday, Donald Trump declared America a Christian nation , explaining, according to Politicus USA , “That’s just the way it is.”
Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee (and many other politicians) supported Kim Davis , asserting that her right to not perform her duties as a County Clerk outweighed the right of same-sex couples to have the same option of marriage that straight couples have.
Numerous politicians have used their religious positions to divide — to deny rights to LGBT individuals, to turn away non-Christians, or to attack the sitting POTUS. Only this past Friday, the Atlanticreports, Georgia Senator Dave Perdue invoked Psalm 109:8as a prayer for President Obama — perhaps truly not knowing that the passage calls not for the end of term, but for death.
Then, Bernie Sanders makes his first tweet about God on his campaign account, his second tweet about God on any public account he has, and it’s a declaration of inclusion, of love for his fellow man. By no means is he the first politician to use his beliefs to promote acceptance and equality, but in the current political climate, there’s no question that to see a politician do so is refreshing.
Whether or not Bernie Sanders is ever President, if religion is going to be a part of politics, can it go in this direction? Please?
[Photo by George Frey/Getty Images]
