5 Things You Didn’t Know About Rand Paul’s Faith

Written by Michael F. Haverluck

Unlike other prospective Republican presidential candidates — like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose faith life is an open book — Sen. Rand Paul’s spiritual walk has remained a bit cloudy, at best … that is, until now.

Not your conventional Christian candidate growing up in the same church all his life, Paul, who officially announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential GOP ticket , has been somewhat of a denominational transient over the years.

“My faith has never been easy for me,” the Kentucky senator expressed about his faith journey from youth to now.

Denomination hopping

Even though the 52-year-old physician and Pennsylvania native was baptized as an Episcopalian, he did not stay with the liberal denomination for long.

“He attended Baylor University, a Baptist school in Texas, then Duke University,” Religion News Service reports, with the latter school being founded by Methodists and Quakers.

Not settling with any of the four denominations, Paul is presently worshipping with his fifth denomination — not too uncommon for mainstream Americans.

“He now attends a Presbyterian church,” Religion News Service’s Kimberly Winston informed. “In this, he is like most Americans — all over the map in terms of his religious affiliation.”

Sacrilege or foolish prank?

In his college years, Paul exhibited some behavior that many Christians on campus found disturbing and an affront to the Christian faith.

“At Baylor, Paul joined the NoZe Brotherhood, a secret and controversial society that routinely skewers the school’s Baptist roots and other aspects of undergraduate life,” Winston recounted. “His association with the group came back to bite him in his initial run for the Senate after GQ magazine ran a story claiming NoZe was dedicated to ‘blasphemy,’ and Paul, while high as a kite, helped kidnap a coed and forced her to pray to ‘Aqua Buddha,’ a  made-up water idol. Paul threatened to sue the magazine.”

Devout today?

Following GQ broke the NoZe Brotherhood story exposing Paul for his alleged part in the “Aqua Buddha” kidnapping, Paul’s wife attempted to put questions about the GOP candidate’s faith to rest.

“Rand and I are both Christians and our faith is very important to us,” Kelley Rand, — who has served as a deacon at the couple’s Presbyterian church — told the media.

Questioning his own faith?

With the onslaught of anti-Christian legislation and policies being unleashed throughout the course of the Obama administration, many evangelical voters are looking for a devout Christian GOP candidate who will champion pro-family and Judeo-Christian values from the Oval Office.

One of the biggest indicators for Christian voters to assess who will and who won’t defend the Christian heritage and foundation of America is the annual Value Voter Summit sponsored by the Family Research Council. When Paul spoke at this social conservative event in 2012, he left many members with feelings of uncertainty as he expressed his own reservations about aspects of faith walk.

“My faith has never been easy for me, never been easy to talk about and never been without obstacles,” Paul told the evangelical Christian crowd in 2012. “I do not and cannot wear my religion on my sleeve. I am a Christian, but not always a good one.”

Paul was candid about the hard time he has trusting in God and believing in His Word.

“I’m not completely free of doubts,” Paul continued at the Value Voter Summit. “I struggle to understand man’s inhumanity to man. I struggle to understand the horrible tragedies that war inflicts on our young men and women.”

A few years later, Paul shared again about his uncertainty when it comes to his faith, telling televangelist Marcus Lamb on his Daystar program that he has been “saved” more than once.

Keeping religion in the public arena

Despite struggling with his faith, Paul has shown his convictions and resolve to make sure Christianity is not purged from government and the public square.

In fact, atheist organizations have marked Paul as a formidable foe because of his hard stand to make sure that religion will always have its place in the United States government — just as it has for more than two centuries.

“Paul also has a ranking of 100 percent from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a First Amendment-watchdog organization, meaning he is ‘perfect’ in his opposition to keeping religion out of government,” Politico notes.

Paul has recently confirmed that he will not misinterpret the so-called “separation of church and state” and use it to eradicate Christianity from the moral fabric of America. He argues that atheists and many progressives have it all wrong and that Thomas Jefferson never intended for religion to have no place in government — just that government must stay out of church affairs.

“The First Amendment says keep government out of religion,” Paul proclaimed to the crowd at a private prayer breakfast last month in the nation’s capital. “It doesn’t say keep religion out of government. So, you do have a role and a place here.”

 This article was originally posted at the OneNewsNow.com website.