There has been a lot of talk about ‘firsts’ revolving around the last few presidential elections: the first African-American president and the first potential female president. This year, there is one more potential first we should be talking about.
For a nation supposedly built on separation of church and state, we certainly have our trends. In fact, according the Pew Research Center, all but three U.S. presidents have been affiliated with a denomination of Christianity. Those three are considered unaffiliated with any specific religion. Many claim that a successful modern president can’t be strongly religious in public, and this may be true. It doesn’t change the fact that Christianity has a seat in the White House. We see images of President Obama laughing with his reverend, and infamously heard George W. Bush claim “I believe God wants me to be president”.
Especially with this year’s prevalence of social issues, the president will be expected to serve as a sort of moral compass for the nation. They will lead crucial dialogues not just for the U.S., but also for the globe. And once again, the candidates are all Christian, with one exception: Bernie Sanders.
Pegged alternately by the media as a socialist catering to the lofty ambitions of America’s debt-plagued youth, and a visionary working to take the country back, the 74-year-old presidential hopeful has certainly been making waves. Sanders as a persona is seemingly a slew of contradictions. He’s the oldest candidate in the race, and the most popular among young people (partially because of some very well-circulated memes).
Even if he doesn’t win the Democratic nomination, even if his campaign were to suddenly freeze in it’s controversial tracks, Sanders will have made history through his primary wins because of his religious status.
What would a Jewish president mean for us as a country? Realistically not much. He will not have mythic ability for relations with Israel, and public schools will not start celebrating a ‘Passover Break’ following Easter. But for those of us living in a country where a religion other than ours is subtly and constantly reinforced, it would mean a lot. Because the truth is we may be one nation under God, but we certainly are not one nation under one God.