Religious Test

Religion and morality are separate and distinct concepts.

   It's been said before, but it needs repeating every time it comes up. The latest smear attempt is the talk that Bernie Sanders is a non-observant Jew and may even be an atheist.
   He has acknowledged his Jewish heritage and that he no longer practices that tradition. As for being an atheist, so what if he is?
  To continue chanting the canard that a candidate for public office must be a spiritual person and follow a specific religious tradition is to ignore history and even the law in America.
   The Constitution is quite specific: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" (Article VI) and the First Amendment carries this concept even further, that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
   It is clear, then, that everyone has the right to follow any spiritual tradition, or even none at all.
   Yet there are many on the radical right who insist on repeating the fiction that only adherents of one specific spiritual belief -- Christianity -- are entitled or qualified to serve in government.
   In the first place, this ignores the many millions of Americans who follow the traditions of Native American people, New Age, Baha'i, Celtic Paganism, Wicca, Druidry, Shamanism, Shinto, Hare Krishna, Buddhism, Tao, Hindu, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrian, or one of many other traditions, or none of the above, or say they are atheist or agnostic. Moreover, the Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, according to a Pew Research report, while the share of those of non-Christian faiths is rising.
   There are no official government statistics on religious beliefs in America, since the Census Bureau does not ask such questions. The main source of data available comes from the church groups themselves, or from surveys. Moreover, each church keeps data its own way, and some may count those who were born and raised in the tradition, but who dropped out decades ago.
   Another important fact to keep in mind is that "the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" -- that being a quote from an international treaty signed by President John Adams on January 1, 1797 and ratified unanimously by Congress on June 7 of that same year.
   Finally, consider this: There is a difference between being religious and being spiritual. The term "religion" derives from words meaning to tie together again. Think "ligature" and "ligament" as things that tie other things together. A spiritual person acknowledges that there exist entities in an Otherworld, and perhaps even communicates with them, but feels no need to join an organization that stipulates how you should behave toward these entities, usually under the guidance and instruction of another person said to be in charge.
   "I once was lost, but now I'm found," goes the hymn. But there are many who feel they were never lost. Further, these folks believe that religion and morality are two entirely separate concepts: Religion deals with your relationship with a deity, while morality deals with your relationship with other people.
   One need not be religious to be moral.