# Dan Rather's Religious Beliefs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565 "2013-01-09T01:23:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/1 "2013-01-09T01:23:05Z")
Does Dan Rather practice any particular religion? Was he raised in any particular religion? I never found anything in his biography that mentioned his religious beliefs or disbelief one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/2 "2013-01-09T03:46:42Z")
I assume this was meant for GQ. Anyway, I have to admit, my brief googling did not turn up anything. Did you read his autobiography? It sounds like you did, but it is pretty new. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/3 "2013-01-09T04:56:33Z")
He was born on Halloween so his soul was consecrated to Satan. Okay, I couldn’t find any reference but if I were to guess based on his family background, I’d say Baptist. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/4 "2013-01-09T14:43:27Z")
He believes in an all-powerful being named Kenneth who beams messages of love and hope into his head on a special radio frequency. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/5 "2013-01-09T15:07:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Anyway, I have to admit, my brief googling did not turn up anything. Mine did, but just the one word, uncapitalized answer “jewish” [here](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Dan_Rather's_religion). Not the most credible of answers, but it’s a start. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/6 "2013-01-09T17:22:56Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > Mine did, but just the one word, uncapitalized answer “jewish” [here](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Dan_Rather's_religion). Not the most credible of answers, but it’s a start. Maybe. Yes, I found some places that claimed Rather is Jewish. But they seemed to be the kind of places that believe the Jews control all television and movies as a means of feeding their liberal propaganda to real Christian Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/7 "2013-01-09T17:35:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > He believes in an all-powerful being named Kenneth who beams messages of love and hope into his head on a special radio frequency. Rather was actually vindicated on that one. They found the guy who attacked him. It was a mentally deranged man named William Tager who believed his mind was being controlled by television broadcasts. One day he happened to see Rather on the street and he attacked him. Tager escaped unidentified on that occasion. And the nation treated the incident like a joke. Not so funny was when Tager tried to walk on to the set of the _Today_ show with a gun eight years later. Cameraman Campbell Montgomery intercepted him and Tager killed Montgomery. A prison psychologist was interviewing Tager and Tager told him about his earlier encounter with Rather. Tager, incidentally, was released from prison in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/8 "2013-01-09T17:56:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Rather was actually vindicated on that one. They found the guy who attacked him. It was a mentally deranged man named William Tager who believed his mind was being controlled by television broadcasts. One day he happened to see Rather on the street and he attacked him. Tager escaped unidentified on that occasion. And the nation treated the incident like a joke. > > Not so funny was when Tager tried to walk on to the set of the _Today_ show with a gun eight years later. Cameraman Campbell Montgomery intercepted him and Tager killed Montgomery. A prison psychologist was interviewing Tager and Tager told him about his earlier encounter with Rather. > > Tager, incidentally, was released from prison in 2010. What do you mean “vindicated”? Did people think Rather was making it up? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/9 "2013-01-09T18:09:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes, I found some places that claimed Rather is Jewish. But they seemed to be the kind of places that believe the Jews control all television and movies as a means of feeding their liberal propaganda to real Christian Americans. I only found the one site with the one word so there wasn’t enough infor to ascribe any sort of agenda to the answer. Thanks for the background. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/10 "2013-01-09T19:07:06Z")
Maybe he’s simply a “none” or an “un” and this may be the start of a new trend. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/11 "2013-01-09T19:26:26Z")
Or maybe he believes that his personal faith has no business in reporting the news and leaves his personal life personal. StG ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/12 "2013-01-09T19:49:24Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Or maybe he believes that his personal faith has no business in reporting the news and leaves his personal life personal. > > StG What? Why? What’s he hiding? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/13 "2013-01-09T19:52:49Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > What do you mean “vindicated”? Did people think Rather was making it up? I don’t think many people thought he made it up. But it was treated as if it was a joke rather than a serious assault. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/14 "2013-01-09T20:27:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He was born on Halloween so his soul was consecrated to Satan. Yes, his father was an executive at Procter and Gamble. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/15 "2013-01-09T20:29:26Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Or maybe he believes that his personal faith has no business in reporting the news and leaves his personal life personal. > > StG Which is why he wrote an autobiography. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/16 "2013-01-10T04:00:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I assume this was meant for GQ. > > Anyway, I have to admit, my brief googling did not turn up anything. Did you read his autobiography? It sounds like you did, but it is pretty new. I did not read his autobiography, but I would be willing to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-rathers-religious-beliefs/646565/17 "2013-01-10T04:04:29Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Or maybe he believes that his personal faith has no business in reporting the news and leaves his personal life personal. > > StG That’s certainly a possibility. However in own life experience whenever the subject would come up, most people have no qualms about saying YES I am a (fill in the blank) even if they are atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, Muslim, whatever. While it’s true that many people are squeamish about actually discussing their belief (or lack thereof) in a Supreme Being, my own experience has been that most people don’t have a problem DECLARING A BELIEF OR DISBELIEF if the subject were to come up.