In a recent candid interview with the Washington Post, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders opened up about his religious faith in a way that many will probably find refreshing. Christian conservatives, on the other hand, might want to have a seat.Speaking with reporters Frances Stead Sellers and John Wagner, Sanders made it clear that not only is he not going to try to get votes by playing the religion card, he would rather politicians keep their faith out of politics altogether. As for himself, he freely admits he isn t interested in organized religion. I am not actively involved with organized religion,  Sanders said in a recent interview.Sanders said he believes in God, though not necessarily in a traditional manner. I think everyone believes in God in their own ways,   he said.  To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together. In other words, Sanders is describing himself as a humanist.In an earlier interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Sanders spoke about how his fellow man, and not a holy book, make him want to be a positive force in the world. Well, you know, I am who I am. And what I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we re all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe that, as human beings, we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people In classic Sanders fashion, he went on to pivot from spiritual musings to railing against wealth inequality. Once again, we were reminded that when Sanders claims he would rather talk about the issues that face the country rather than his faith or lack thereof, he means it.This is a radical deviation from how most American politicians approach voters. For many, particularly on the right, religious pandering is front-and-center to their campaign strategy. For proof of that, one need only to look at how many Republican candidates have held rallies at Christian universities. Several even launched their campaigns at one.How singularly focused on religion are Republican politicians? Consider this: Trump, a man whose history of divorces, intolerance, and greed would make even Jesus strain to turn the other cheek, has managed to score a key religious ally by grovelling: Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. He couldn t wait to brag about it.Great honor- Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. of Liberty University, one of the most respected religious leaders in our nation, has just endorsed me!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2016Eager to compete, Ted Cruz found his own religious leader to endorse him, Pastor Mike Bickle. Unfortunately, the man turned out to be a raging anti-Semite who claimed Hitler was sent from heaven to kill Jews. The Lord says,  I m going to give all 20 million of them the chance to respond to the fishermen. And I give them grace.  And he says,  And if they don t respond to grace, I m going to raise up the hunters.  And the most famous hunter in recent history is a man named Adolf Hitler. Oops.Ironically, Sanders commitment to avoiding religion in the public square falls more in line with what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they laid out the Constitution that Republicans claim to adore. While many   but not all   of the founders were religious, they were deeply skeptical of letting religion dictate secular society and vice versa. Religion was a private matter; politics, a public one. Mixing the two diminished both.Politics aside, it s clear that Bernie Sanders is defying every rule that Christian conservatives insisted a politician must have. Far from being hurt by his openness about his lack of organized religion, Sanders is doing just fine by sticking with the issues. It seems that a genuine drive to make things better for people really does matter more than being able to say you pray really hard. On the flipside, politicians who are deeply religious, don t seem to have a better track record. Famously, George W. Bush said he spoke to God about the invasion of Iraq   either God has a sick sense of humor or the voice in his head was, in fact, Dick Cheney s.Feature image via Flickr