June 10, 2017

Sanders Condemns Christian as Unfit for Public Office

Sanders challenges a Trump nominee for his Christian beliefs, and imposes an unconstitutional religious test.

It would be surprising to find a “Coexist” bumper sticker affixed to Senator Bernie Sanders’ car. While the sentiment expressed by the sticker is clearly meant to promote the progressive idea of tolerance, it would seem for Sanders, when it comes to government, that’s just a bridge too far.

It’s no secret that our Founding Fathers formulated much the of U.S. Constitution from a Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment worldview. They were also very much aware of the danger of allowing the government the power of determining what religious convictions and beliefs are permissible, the protections against such government abuse being espoused in the First Amendment and further delineated in Article VI of the Constitution. Evidently, Sanders must have misplaced his pocket Constitution.

During the Senate hearing for Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, Sanders brought up an article Vought wrote in 2016. Vought had defended his alma mater, Wheaton College, over an incident that eventually led to the departure of a professor who had expressed solidarity with Muslims. Sanders decided to question Vought’s theological convictions:

> Sanders: I don’t know how many Muslims there are in America, I really don’t know, probably a couple million. Are you suggesting that all of those people stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned too?

> Vought: Senator, I am a Christian…

> Sanders: I understand that you are a Christian. But this country is made up of people who are not just — I understand that Christianity is the majority religion. But there are other people who have different religions in this country and around the world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?

After Sanders continued badgering Vought along those lines, he evidently sought to conclude that Vought’s religious views were bigoted — without noting the irony that Muslims and Jews likewise believe their religion is the only true one. Sanders concluded, “I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.” Then again, Sanders is a disciple of Karl Marx, who once said, “Religion is the opium of the people” (in other translations, “opiate of the masses”). Is that ideology what the country’s about?

It’s ironic that Sanders, a champion of the Left, deemed it entirely relevant to question Vought’s religious beliefs as a means of determining his qualifications for a position in government, and yet this same Left has worked to stop Donald Trump’s travel ban over the claim that it’s a religious test against Muslims. Maybe the parody site The Babylon Bee captures it best with its fictional Sanders op-ed headline, “It Is Perfectly OK For Public Servants To Be Christian, As Long As They Do Not Believe Christian Things.”

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.