Sanders courting Christian conservative students

[Omaha Steve]

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]

1. Watching. Damn he is good! eom

[Catherina]

3. Unbelievable. And stated true to himself n/t

[Marrah_G]

2. I think he is trying to change their views

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.

[Catherina]

4. +1 n/t

[Purveyor]

5. Indeed they are... eom

[peacebird]

6. And the students are enthusiastically cheering for him!!!

[d_r]

7. I was flat out impressed

He is a very moral man.

[RufusTFirefly]

17. Yes! Isn't it time that progressives reclaimed the term "moral"?

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]

8. He has a simple message, easy to understand.

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]

9. This is his problem

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]

10. These are students. It's probably safer to assume their parents are fundamentalists...

...than to assume they are. They're probably going to the college daddy's money pays for.

[roguevalley]

34. I know some who don't. They work hard like everyone else to pay for it. Broad brushing this

is wrong. Integrity attracts. That is why Bernie will win.

[starroute]

12. The economic conservatives have always exploited the social conservatives

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]

31. white fundalmentalists who are not rich might listen

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]

33. personally, I think they will. They see their own hard working families and know he's right because

no one is getting ahead but the rich. They have loans too.

[bigdarryl]

11. If Hillary was doing this supporters of Sanders would be furious

[starroute]

13. If Hillary was doing this, she'd be seen as pandering

Sanders is sincere and that comes through in everything he says and does.

[bigdarryl]

15. Yeah ok just wait until he win the primary if he does

The republicans will make him look like Dukakis

[dirtydickcheney]

16. If he wins the primary

The Republicans will vote for him!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. Ha! Good one!

[randys1]

26. A poll needs to be done around March 1, of all voters, Sanders vs

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]

40. Don't you mean....

'when'?

[dirtydickcheney]

41. True

I do mean "when"!

[hueymahl]

27. Is that a prediction or wishful thinking on your part? NT

[Scootaloo]

14. Maybe Clinton should do it. Let's see what happens.

[gcomeau]

24. There is a difference...

...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]

28. We would be mocking her fake Virginia accent n/t

[zazen]

29. I wouldn't--not if she were speaking difficult, uncomfortable truths to them like he is

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]

32. why? he was invited to speak, and he accepted

what's the problem? NO PANDERING...maybe that would be the difference with Clinton.

[demwing]

37. If Clinton were doing this, she'd claim that she's always been an Evangelical

and was persecuted for her faith by Islamic Socialists, or some such nonsense

[HassleCat]

38. No, not at all, UNLESS

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]

39. I don't think so....

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]

18. I watched his speech. I loved it. Not one iota of pandering.

[hollowdweller]

19. He's taking the battle to them there instead of them coming here.

To bastardize Bush

[Lychee2]

20. It also makes interesting headlines.

"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]

21. I guess he felt that saying they disagree on cultural issues

...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]

36. then again, he let them know his truth. he's not playing games here. This is genuine and incredibly

brave and courageous. He is speaking to them as a friend, countryman and compassionate person. That means something.

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. He was amazing! And the crowd seemed to like him too!

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]

25. Good for Bernie -

he wants all the votes. He is in it to win it!

[no_hypocrisy]

30. IMO here's why I think the students at least considered what Bernie said.

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]

35. I kept waiting for the word "Mammon" and the "money-changers in the temple"

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]

42. Interesting that he delivered this speech on Rosh Hashanah

A pretty significant Jewish holiday marking the beginning of the new year.

[NonMetro]

43. Let's See:

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]

44. Bernie don't court, he just gives them hell by telling them how it is

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]

45. I was truly surprised and impressed by the respectful and polite audience and moderators.

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.