made these biblical ideologies part of his own doctrine.[88] Vonnegut laced a number of his speeches with religion-focused rhetoric,[82][83] and was prone to using such expressions as "God forbid" and "thank God".[84][89]Vonnegut would often talk about religion, in his novels and elsewhere. In God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, Vonnegut goes to Heaven after he is euthanized by Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Once in Heaven, Vonnegut interviews twenty-one deceased celebrities, including Isaac Asimov, William Shakespeare, and Kilgore Troutthe last a fictional character from several of his novels.[90] Vonnegut's works are filled with characters founding new faiths,[91] and religion often serves as a major plot device, for example in Player Piano, The Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle. In The Sirens of Titans, Rumfoord proclaims The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent. Slaughterhouse-Five sees Billy Pilgrim, lacking religion himself, nevertheless become a chaplain's assistant in the military and display a large crucifix on his bedroom wall.[92] In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut invented the religion of Bokononism.[93]Vonnegut had a deep dislike for the Christian religion, often reminding his readers of the bloody history of the Crusades and other religion-inspired violence. He despised thetelevangelists of the late 20th century, feeling that their thinking was narrow-minded. Realizing that humans need a moral code by which to live, he greatly admired Christ's Sermon on the Mount,[91] and there are a string of references to it across his works. In Palm Sunday, he writes, "The Sermon on the Mount suggests a mercifulness that can never waver or fade."[94] Vonnegut, in his 1991 book Fates Worse than Death, suggests that during the Reagan administration, "anything that sounded like the Sermon on the Mount was socialistic or communistic, and therefore anti-American".[94] Vonnegut did not however disdain those who seek the comfort of religion, hailing church associations as a type of extended family.[95]Politics[edit]Vonnegut did not particularly sympathize with liberalism or conservatism, and mused on the specious simplicity of American politics. "If you want to take my guns away from me, and you're all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other [...] you're a liberal. If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you're a conservative. What could be simpler?"[96] Regarding political parties, Vonnegut said, "The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people dont acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead."[97]Vonnegut disregarded more mainstream political ideologies in favor of socialism, which he thought could provide a valuable substitute for what he saw as social Darwinism and a spirit of "survival of the fittest" in American society,[98] believing that "socialism would be a good for the common man".[99] Vonnegut would often return to a quote by socialist and five-time presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, who went to prison for his beliefs: "As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I'm of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free."[100][101] Vonnegut expressed disappointment that communism and socialism seemed