2020 Presidential Candidate Jared Huffman is a ‘Spiritual Drifter’
- By Kelly Frazier --
- 06 Aug 2019 --
Rep. Jared Huffman considers himself a “seeker.”
The most diverse field of candidates in history have made their presence known in the 2020 presidential race in the U.S.[/tweetit] An openly gay man, people of color, women, socialists, a self-help guru, and billionaires are some of the wide ranging candidates for the 2020 presidential election. However, when it comes to religion, there are very few non-believers in American politics.
2020 Presidential Candidate Jared Huffman is a ‘Spiritual Drifter'[/tweetthis]
Jared Huffman is the only Congressman in the running to publicly "come out." Huffman is a leading proponent of the impeachment of Donald Trump and is a Democrat who represents the second district of California. In 2017, Rep. Jared Huffman clarified that he doesn’t identify as an atheist but rather as a humanist. He has called himself a “spiritual drifter.” He has even used the word ‘seeker.’
Rep. Huffman has expressed that he will not repeat the actions of militants such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. He has spoken about the matter and said he believes atheism brings about the notion of being against religion instead of being non-religious. He went on to say that he would like it if everyone made their own religious choices, which is why he prefers saying he’s non-religious. He clarified that he isn’t against people having religion.
He also said he would never categorize religion as bad since he sees many people of faith making good things happen. He also said while he has seen a lot of good things that religion has done; he has also seen a lot of bad things, which make it a mixed bag.
A poll in May by Gallup was conducted to test the willingness of Americans to vote for presidential candidates from different groups. Although willingness to vote for an atheist has risen to 60 percent, it still ranks second to last among the qualifications which include religion, race, sexuality, age, and gender. The only qualifier that scored less than being an atheist is being a socialist.
Rep. Jared Huffman has said he has many fellow travelers who believe that being agnostic or an atheist isn’t the best route to take in politics. Rep. Huffman has said that in his experience, this isn’t the case. What matters is how you do your job.