See How Hillary Clinton Responds When Asked Whom She Prays For
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton discussed the importance of prayer during Sunday night's presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders answered whether or not he believes God is "relevant."
Right before Clinton and Sanders gave their closing statements at the CNN-hosted debate, both Democratic candidates were asked to answer a question regarding religion.
An audience member named Denise, who goes to a church that Clinton has apparently visited, explained that her church prays three times during each liturgy for America's armed forces, civil authorities, loved ones and enemies. Denise then challenged Clinton to detail "to whom and for whom" she prays for.
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"I pray very specifically for people whom I know by name. People who either have gone through or are experiencing difficult times, illness, divorce, death, disappointment, all of the life experiences that confront most of us," Clinton, a Methodist, said. "I pray for the will of God to be known that we can know it and to the best of our limited ability, try to follow it and fulfill it."
The former first lady of the United States added that had she not been a "praying person" prior to her husband, Bill, becoming president. The intense pressure that came with the White House eventually led her to fall back on prayer and faith.
"So I do pray for people in authority. I try to think about what they are going through, even when I disagree with them," Clinton said. "Trying to find some common ground, some common understanding that perhaps can make me more empathetic. I don't always succeed. I will tell you that."
"So I pray on a pretty regular basis during the day, because I need that strength and I need that support, and especially when you are in the position that I'm in and that Senator Sanders is in, where you are asking people to vote for you, to give you the most important job, not only in our country, but I would argue in the world, "Clinton continued. "I think humility is one of the most important attributes that you bring to both that seeking and then if you're fortunate enough, to that holding of office and that's what I will try to do."
Prior to Clinton's answer, Denise bluntly asked the the 74-year-old Sanders, who is Jewish, "Do you believe that God is relevant?"
"Well, I think — well, the answer is yes," the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist said. "And I think when we talk about God whether it is Christianity, or Judaism, or Islam, or Buddhism, what we are talking about is what all religions hold dear and, that is to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you."
CNN moderator Anderson Cooper followed up by asking Sanders about a recent Detroit News article published last week that claimed that Sanders is upsetting some Jewish leaders because he keeps his Jewish faith in the "background" and has not had a strong pro-Israel record.
Additionally, Sanders was the first senator to announce last year that he was going to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress last year.
"No. I am very proud to be Jewish, and being Jewish is so much of what I am. Look, my father's family was wiped out by Hitler in the Holocaust. I know about what crazy and radical, and extremist politics mean," Sanders said. "I learned that lesson as a tiny, tiny child when my mother would take me shopping, and we would see people working in stores who had numbers on their arms because they were in Hitler's concentration camp. I am very proud of being Jewish, and that is an essential part of who I am as a human being."
