Dem lawmaker: There’s ‘too much religion in politics’

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) in a new interview said he thinks there is too much religion in politics.

Huffman told The Washington Post he has — for years — not answered questionnaires that ask him about his religious beliefs, instead putting unspecified or “none of your business.”

“I don’t believe in religious tests, and I don’t believe my religion is all that important to the people I represent,” he said.

{mosads}”And I think there’s too much religion in politics.”

He also said he thinks religion has recently been used negatively. 

“I’ve seen religion wielded in such negative ways around here, lately,” he said. “[President] Trump does it all the time, so implausibly.”

Huffman plans to announce Thursday he is a “humanist,” according to the newspaper.

Huffman said that he’s not “hostile” to religion, and he does not judge other people’s religious views.

He added that he doesn’t believe his religion is necessarily relevant to the work he does, and it no longer feels “right to just take a pass on the question.”

“Because your religious views can speak to your moral and ethical framework on the world. And that is something I think the public is entitled to know,” Huffman said.

Huffman said he’s a “nonbeliever, a skeptic.”

“I suppose you could say I don’t believe in God. The only reason I hesitate is — unlike some humanists, I’m not completely closing the door to spiritual possibilities,” he said.

“We all know people who have had experiences they believe are divine … and I’m open to something like that happening.”