Bernie Sanders was asked about his religious stance during a recent interview with CNN--his response was truly refreshing. Bernie began to explain his religious stance by first explaining his spiritual beliefs. His spirituality is that, "We are all in this together." So what does that mean? With so much discrimination in today's world, how can this outlook be feasible? Bernie began to explain his statement by stating, "Every great religion in the world [...], essentially comes down to, do onto others as you would like them to do onto you." This ideology is so pure that it's simply beautiful. As a nation with a remarkable amount of division, this speck of simplicity is quite hopeful.
Bernie continued to illustrate this spiritual belief of his by explaining, "The truth is, at some point, when you [host] hurt, when your children hurt, I hurt. And when my kids hurt, you hurt." This full-circle outlook provides a sense of hope for future generations. If people began to see their fellow citizens as equals, the division between us may actually die out. Bernie continued to explain this concept by stating how easy it is to turn our backs on other people, and only focus on ourselves. He related this to the audience at the Democratic Town Hall by saying, "I believe that what human nature is about is that everybody in this room impacts everybody else in all kinds of ways that we can't even understand - it's beyond intellect. It's a spiritual, emotional thing."
By being a spiritual and emotional matter, Bernie's ideology takes all religions and boils them down to one commonality. If our nation began to see people for who they are, rather than what they believe in, we might actually be able to live in a country free of division. The Dalai Lama once said, "Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion." This is essentially what Bernie Sanders is getting at when he explains that we're all in this together. Each individual on this planet appreciates a kind and compassionate person. This spiritual and emotional outlook takes a refreshing stance on today's society. No matter what you believe in, we must stand together.
At the end of the interview, Bernie adds, "When we do the right thing, when we try to treat people with respect and dignity, I think we are more human when we do that." We are all human beings when it comes down to it. If people began to see their fellow citizens as equals, then maybe we would be able to build a better nation together. After all, we are all in this together.
