Sanders courting Christian conservative students
Source: AP
By KEN THOMAS
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says the "massive injustice" of income and wealth inequality should unite people across the political spectrum. He's making that point to thousands of evangelical college students who usually support Republicans.
The Democratic presidential candidate is speaking Monday at Liberty University, an influential Christian college in Virginia that usually draws GOP candidates.
Sanders says in prepared remarks it's important for those with different views to find common ground. He notes that he disagrees with conservatives on abortion and gay marriage. But he says it's hard to for anyone to make the case that the U.S. is a "just society."
Sanders contends there's "no justice" when too many people work long hours for low wages and when the wealthy take a disproportionate share of the nation's income.
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. , left, talks with Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ba45cf24932c457db1c01515159442c1/sanders-courting-christian-conservative-students
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)Catherina
(35,568 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)If he can get even just some of them to see the fallacy of conservatism, then I say "Go for it Bernie" The teachings of Jesus are more in line with Socialism then with Capitalism.
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)peacebird
(14,195 posts)d_r
(6,907 posts)He is a very moral man.
RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)Last edited Mon Sep 14, 2015, 01:35 PM - Edit history (1)
Who could possibly consider our country's dramatic income inequality and our terrible treatment of the disadvantaged or afflicted and call it moral?
mountain grammy
(26,693 posts)The voices of average Americans are not heard. Money is ruling America to the detriment of people. Every college kid with a loan knows that, no matter what college they're attending.
Thanks, Bernie, for getting our message out there.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)He talks a lot about class inequality and economic fairness, but those are not issues that motivate fundamentalist white Christians.
They either don't care, or they believe that class disparities are ordained by God, and the poor are poor because it is God's will or they are just lazy.
Sanders is to be admired for speaking to them directly, but I expect he will come up empty-handed.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)...than to assume they are. They're probably going to the college daddy's money pays for.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)is wrong. Integrity attracts. That is why Bernie will win.
starroute
(12,977 posts)It's a coalition that was put together by the Moral Majority in the late 70s and helped elect Reagan. But it was never held together by much besides the fact that desegregation made white Southerners resentful of the federal government -- and the social conservatives never got much out of it besides empty promises.
Things have changed in the last 35 years. The mouthpieces of the oligarchs have tried to keep poor whites angry at the federal government over gay marriage and gun control, but those issues don't resonate in the same way that race once did. Meanwhile the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is being destroyed, and large areas of Appalachia have been laid waste.
The contradictions between the dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism that is intrinsic to economic conservatism and the core values of Christianity are becoming starkly drawn. There is a dawning sense even among the fundamentalists that they have been exploited for low-level political ends. And any sincere young person, even at Liberty University, has to be aware of that and be receptive to alternatives.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)economic inequality is a winning message, with the power to awaken even the most braindead and religiously insane. if people start thinking about the quality of their own lives, instead of worrying about ISIS and immigrants, perhaps some lightbulbs will come on.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)no one is getting ahead but the rich. They have loans too.
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)starroute
(12,977 posts)Sanders is sincere and that comes through in everything he says and does.
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)The republicans will make him look like Dukakis
dirtydickcheney
(242 posts)The Republicans will vote for him!!
in_cog_ni_to
(41,600 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)whichever clown ass fuck prick sons a bitches are left.
I am curious about that, whichever of our candidates polls highest, that is who I work for.
I give it till March...
daleanime
(17,796 posts)'when'?
dirtydickcheney
(242 posts)I do mean "when"!
hueymahl
(2,515 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)gcomeau
(5,764 posts)...between going to a group and expressing your positions and then saying "this is why you people who normally wouldn't vote for me should actually like my positions and vote for me, come around to our way of thinking..." and going to a group and saying "hey, I'm really one of you, I'll do all these things you want, vote for me!"
Clinton has a track record of doing the latter. Whether you want to think of that as being electoral strategy or an indicator of her likely conduct when in office is going to be up to who's doing the evaluating... but it's still a different thing than what Sanders is known for doing. Speaking as someone who has avoided taking sides in the Great DU Primary War because the discussions (using that term loosely) are generally counter-productive if the goal is coming out the other side with a party unified behind a strong general election candidate.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)zazen
(2,978 posts)And believe me, as much as I dislike her policies, she like any Democratic, strong woman is facing the ongoing, outrageous double standard of being seen as "too" passionate = aggressive if she really speaks out and then "pandering" or at least calculating if she's more toned down.
I get that. It's appalling. I think Warren gets away with being more passionate because she didn't have to rise to leadership/prominence in the early 90s under the awful microscope that Clinton did. Clinton paved the way for new women leaders. Clinton got the passion smashed out of her by trauma after trauma.
However, I also think Clinton's and Obama's neoliberal policies are disastrous for the planet.
Sanders calls it out as much as anyone. The sexist attacks on Clinton are outrageous. We all disagree with her on her record, while we loathe the way she has been treated.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)demwing
(16,916 posts)and was persecuted for her faith by Islamic Socialists, or some such nonsense
HassleCat
(6,409 posts)Unless she went there and told them she loved Jesus, and wanted prayer in public schools, etc. Many politicians do that. They go speak to some group and say. "I'm with you! I'm one of you!" Sanders does not. Would Clinton? I don't know. Maybe she'll go to Liberty University, and we'll find out.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)find it hard to believe that he would be anything but supportive of the effort.
Why don't we get her to accept the invite to speak there herself. I'm sure they would love to have her.
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)To bastardize Bush
Lychee2
(405 posts)"Bernie Speaks at Liberty U" is a little like the proverbial "Man bites dog."
(I am not accusing Bernie of being a dog or biting a dog. "Man bites dog" is a metaphor for an unusual press story.)
Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)...would get that out of the way. But maybe it would have been better to omit that from the speech and just talk about income inequality the whole time.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)brave and courageous. He is speaking to them as a friend, countryman and compassionate person. That means something.
in_cog_ni_to
(41,600 posts)His answer to the final question at the end was the cherry on top for me. The man is just GOOD. His heart is huge.
TBF
(32,196 posts)he wants all the votes. He is in it to win it!
no_hypocrisy
(46,378 posts)Yes, he doesn't share their religious views and government sponsorship of religion. But to quote Bill Clinton, "It's the Economy Stupid!"
Liberty University students are saddled with unsustainable student debt and have no promise of employment to repay those loans. Bernie is telling them what they already know: they face a dismal prospect upon graduation even with Jesus by their sides.
My feeling is that there will be students who are looking for someone who will tell the truth and offer solutions to real problems. Like the students who wore Rand Paul T-shirts when Jeb spoke at Liberty. They aren't afraid to follow their consciences which is refreshing for a school like Liberty.
zazen
(2,978 posts)Honestly, I thought he'd more overtly invoke his Judaic heritage and Jesus' inherent socialist critique of the Pharisees.
Protestants almost by definition (well, at least at their theological conception) conflate economic success with God's favor. A lot of the notion of charity for the poor got affiliated with Catholicism, because it was grace alone, not works, that defined the early Protestants.
That's why the pastor kept going back to "fill the gaps with spirituality that the government can't fill." They think if you approach other peoples' suffering with money (except the billionaires, apparently) you're somehow depriving them of the motivation to find God.
Right-wing evangelicals inherently think that to focus on worldly charity without building faith is empty (works without faith is dead.) That's what the oligarchs have been able to exploit among Protestants and how it is that Pope Francis can move more easily into a capitalist critique, because they have such a longer, less problematic history of the centrality of charity.
Still, calling out money-seeking as idolatry DEFINITELY appeals to the Liberty U, faith-centered Protestants. They're all about rooting out sin within their personal identity, so you when you throw out a big sin like that, they're almost compulsively obligated to ask themselves if they're guilty of it.
Amazing speech.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)A pretty significant Jewish holiday marking the beginning of the new year.
NonMetro
(631 posts)Liberty University - Creationism - Jerry Falwell Jr, - Liberty counsel, - Mat Staver, - Kim Davis - County Clerk Made Law. And Bernie thinks he's going to get votes here?
nolabels
(13,133 posts)In a world full of lies, truth is worth more than any lie even if that lie is wrapped in gold. A time when fallacy is Epic, even a George Orwell would have trouble making some of this stuff up.
denverbill
(11,489 posts)I really expected Liberty to frankly reflect Tea Party attitudes and behavior. I expected especially the faculty or announcers to be die-hard Jerry Falwell types who would do everything in their power to criticize and rebuke Sanders. The moderators in particular were very welcoming and respectful. Maybe Liberty University is actually starting to live up to it's name.
I thought the event reflected very well on Liberty as well as Senator Sanders. He may not have converted many of them, but I don't think that was his goal. His goal was just to open them up to working together, which it the thing this country needs more than anything else right now.
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