I actually did not know this. Most Jewish people I know are not at all religious, but go thru the motions out of tradition. Much like I do with Christianity. I’d describe myself as a militant atheist, yet I enjoy all the traditions of Christmas and Easter dinner, etc. Also, the Jews I know that do believe in god, believe in a deistic one that doesn’t answer prayers or provide an afterlife. That said, my sample size is relatively small
Maybe some people you know are Jewish and would identify as jewish, but you don’t know that because they never talk about it and maybe they even have a Christmas tree because that’s what Americans do because we live in a Christian culture.
Nah, they light the menorah, have sader dinners and everything. Just aren’t actually religious in the sense they actually believe that god killed all the non jews (or whatever that’s about)
But my overall point was that there probably aren’t too many Rhodes scholars (or their spouses) who actually believe in god. I’m sure there are a few exceptions, but I hardly think Bill Clinton is one of them
Dunno about Bill. They all lie of course. But Hillary has always been reported as pretty religious, I think when when it wasn’t necessarily self-serving.
My point about Jews though is that there may be some that you don’t realize. I have had multiple Jewish friends who were not religious at all and their families still did Christmas.
They all have to lie about being religious or they could never get elected. Consider that 4% of people identify as atheists. Not just no religion, but atheists. How many members of congress are there? Over 500 right? So at least 20 members of congress should be atheists. Actually, that number should be much higher due to education, etc. Yet, I think only one (Peter Stark?) admitted to being an atheist and that was on his way out
I think that’s tragic. Certainly Bernie Sanders is an atheist, but he wouldn’t dare admit it. And there have to be many more (my guess includes the Clintons and Obamas if I were forced to bet). Hopefully, there comes a day when atheists become more accepted. We are among the most maligned groups in the U.S. having to hide our atheism in many cases and I for one, am sick of it
This seems like a weird assumption to make about people. I’ve known a lot of extremely smart religious people, I don’t see any reason to suspect Bernie if faking it. The Clintons and Obamas both seem like just basic moderate mainstream American Christians.
I’m not saying there aren’t any intelligent religious people, but it’s a known fact that religiosity declines as both intelligence and education levels increase. I don’t think it’s weird to assume that a very high percentage of Rhodes scholars are atheists
I think a lot of people are kind of afraid to admit they are an atheist even to themselves and they cop out by saying they are agnostic or spiritual or something.
IIRC Hillary is a Methodist, which isn’t something i can distinguish from other branches, but my interpretation is that the differences are important and less extremist than born-agains or catholics.
My guess is that some fraction of the population have a volatile belief in God that fluctuates in its strength from day to day.
A whole lot of people have a kind of Christianity where maybe they don’t go to church terribly often, but they still have a sincere belief in some kind of Christian-style god. But also, working in the physical sciences, I’ve met some whip-smart people who were also practicing Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, etc. It’s tricky to generalize.
As if Trump doesn’t get 100:1 in free press compared to Biden. His collected dollars is meaningless
It’s true that he gets a lot of press coverage, but there are still aspects of campaigning that cost money like local offices and get-out-the-vote efforts.
It’s not just Trump, money that should be going to downballot races is going to Trump’s legal fund as well. The GOP is setting themselves up for a historic shellacking across the board.
Giving Trump the keys to GOP campaign spending is such an absurd self-own. Even as cowardly as the establishment guys are, you’d think they would have said no to it. Now everyone has to kiss Trump’s ass if they want campaign funds, plus they’re all covering his legal expenses.
I hope you are all right.
Yeah down ballot they are going to have problems. Those elections need money.
What reality do these people live in? Who will do more harm to the country? Trump is openly trying to take down democracy. Biden isn’t. That’s all you need to know. Even if you hate Biden’s policies, you can stomach them for 4 years if it means we’ll still have a free election next time