Oh, I’m way hostile. I think the world will be a far better place when we put this silliness behind us. I was in this instance though, just responding to the high and mighty arrogance of the “fuck you” at the beginning of the thread. You’re living in a fantasy land if you think there is anything like an real attack on christianity in America. This country thinks you need to believe in god to be worthy of public office.
Also, jesus, if he existed, said your faith should be a private thing. My problem is with bringing it into the government.
Jesus in government is like a baby in a movie theater. Most people have no opposition to babies, and have no opposition to people who have babies going to a movie so long as they leave the baby at home. They can still be loving, doting parents, mind you – they just recognize that a movie theater is no place for babies. And if people DO insist on bringing their babies to the movies, the people who get pissed don’t hate the BABY. They hate the parents for not being more responsible.
Oh wah, you lash out like a silly child because someone isn’t in lockstep with your chosen religion and then a *howwible *atheist oppresses you with a smilie face.
First of all, I think that’s largely true - but it is true in reverse as well. There isn’t anything like a “War on Atheism” either.
That doesn’t change the fact that jerks abound on both sides of this coin who behave badly from time to time.
Regarding belief in God as a test to be worthy of public office - it stands to reason that in a representative democracy, most politicians will look like the electorate. Therefore, most politicians will be religious in this religious country.
Apparently, they’re all gathered together right in this thread, then. Check the posts between yours and this response.
But then aren’t you effectively denying a Christian the right to run for president? Or for that matter, a Muslim or anyone of faith? Would you be willing to concede that a person can feel led by God in his personal life, but led by the Constitution in his public life? Even Jesus recognized that what is Caesar’s belongs to Caesar.
No. I’m only speaking of my willingness to vote for such a person.
Yes, I can concede that. But when someone says he is “defined” by his Christianity and that he is “the Christian candidate”, it’s not at all clear to me that he falls in that category.
I was just about to express similar thoughts, especially as it concerned John’s willingness to vote for or not vote for a candidate based on his professed religious beliefs, the willingness of millions of Christian voters to do likewise, and the implication this has to the statement Lobohan made above:
If free people want to vote in religious zealots, that’s their right. And so long as the rights of others are protected in the process, this should (ideally) produce nothing but normal political disagreement.
Just to be clear, it’s not “religious beliefs”, per se, that make me inclined not to vote for someone. Hell, they all profess some religious beliefs. As I think I’ve stated here several times, it is my opinion that Huckabee is too immersed in his religious beliefs for him to be able to divorce them from his political actions. If he had to choose between Christ and The Constitution, which one would he choose? I’m not sure. And since he seems to have distorted the teachings of Christ (the way I understand them, anyway), I can’t trust him to not distort them at some later date in some unpredictable, or undesirable, way.
Ideally yes, but in practice we are in danger of all sorts of silliness as a result. Abortion may go the way of the dodo if another republican administration comes to pass (via stacking the supreme court, I mean). Schools are already inserting utterly inane religious dogma into textbooks. You can’t mention birthcontrol to teenagers thanks to the idiocy of abstinence programs. Stem cell research is unfunded by the government, even though it is our best hope to cure a host of diseases.
I’m sure the list goes on, but I have to step out for lunch now.
No problem. I’ve been pestered much worse for less.
I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised you aren’t aware that I’m one the group of atheist here who regularly and vigorously defend religious people against the bashing they get from the anti-religion crowd here. **Miller **comes to mind as well. Maybe we just never crossed paths in those threads.
I’ve certainly gone after **Dio **on this very subject when it appears that he’s gone over the top. And although I didn’t do it in this thread, I did point out at least one groundless claim that he was making. Anyway, I’m not trying to make myself out as a saint on this subject, and we needn’t always be on the same side of this argument, but I think you’ll find we’re on the same side more often than not.