Bernie Sanders: Our first non-religious president?

Much of the attention paid to Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign has to do with the s-word: Can a socialist be elected president? How much of a socialist is he? What exactly is socialism?

What many haven't picked up on is that a Sanders presidency would be a first in a couple other ways. First, Sanders would be our first Jewish president. And second, while Sanders is culturally Jewish, he has said that he's "not particularly religious" and has been described by some as agnostic.

Asked during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show this week whether he believed in G0D, Sanders demurred.

"I am who I am," Sanders said. "And what I believe in and what my spirituality is about, is that we're all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe that as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people."

Sanders added: "This is not Judasim. This is what Pope Francis is talking about -- that we cannot worship just billionaires and the making of more and more money. Life is more than that."

In political terms, this is what's known as a dodge. It's an economic and cultural vision that Sanders attempts to shoehorn into a religious conversation by noting that religious people like Pope Francis feel the same way. It's basically saying, 'I'd rather talk about poor people than a G0D that might or might not exist.'

Our own Michelle Boorstein wrote recently about the lack of discussion of Sanders's "Jewishness": Part of this is likely because Sanders has over the decades not spoken often about his Judaism or what he believes or practices, according to profiles of him. Now the highly private Sanders seems to be opening the window a bit as a presidential candidate, if only to make the case that his drive for economic justice is deeply rooted in his philosophical DNA, and is even tribal.

While Sanders didn't tell Kimmel whether he believes in G0D, he did obliquely refer last month to a "belief in G0D."

"I believe that there is a connection between all living things, and that my belief in G0D 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," he said, according to USA Today.

It's worth noting here that religious definitions are malleable. An agnostic is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a person who does not have a definite belief about whether G0D exists or not." These people are often lumped in with atheists, who believe "that there is no deity."

We have never had a president who publicly subscribed to atheism or agnosticism. According to data collected by Pew, two U.S. presidents have been religiously unaffiliated. Both, however, spoke about or appeared to believe in G0D. From Pew's write-up earlier this year:

Two of the most famous presidents in American history had no formal religious affiliation. The first, Thomas Jefferson, lost his faith in orthodox Christianity at an early age, but continued to believe in an impersonal G0D as the creator of the universe. Jefferson famously edited the New Testament by removing references to the miracles and leaving in Jesus' teachings.

In other words, in demurring about whether he believes in G0D, Sanders would appear to be unlike any man to ever serve as president.