Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • The Atlantic

    Bernie Sanders's Religious Test for Christians in Public Office

    During a contentious confirmation hearing, the Vermont senator questioned the faith of the nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    by Emma Green Jun 08, 2017 6 minutes
    Source: Yuri Gripas / Reuters

    Updated on June 8 at 11:40 a.m.

    Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders flirted with the boundaries of this rule during a confirmation hearing for Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

    Sanders took issue with a piece Vought wrote in January 2016 about a fight at the nominee’s alma mater, Wheaton College. The Christian school had fired a political-science professor, Larycia Hawkins, for a Facebook post intended to express solidarity with Muslims. Vought disagreed with Hawkins’s post and defended the school in an article for the conservative website The Resurgent. During the hearing, Sanders repeatedly quoted one passage that he found particularly objectionable:

    Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from The Atlantic

    The Atlantic3 min read
    They Rode the Rails, Made Friends, and Fell Out of Love With America
    The open road is the great American literary device. Whether the example is Jack Kerouac or Tracy Chapman, the national canon is full of travel tales that observe America’s idiosyncrasies and inequalities, its dark corners and lost wanderers, but ult
    The Atlantic4 min readAmerican Government
    How Democrats Could Disqualify Trump If the Supreme Court Doesn’t
    Near the end of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments about whether Colorado could exclude former President Donald Trump from its ballot as an insurrectionist, the attorney representing voters from the state offered a warning to the justices—one evoking
    The Atlantic5 min readSocial History
    The Pro-life Movement’s Not-So-Secret Plan for Trump
    Sign up for The Decision, a newsletter featuring our 2024 election coverage. Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he regards his party’s position on reproductive rights as a political liability. He blamed the “abortion issue” for his part

    Related Books & Audiobooks