Would You Vote for an Atheist President?

[randiann]

It's interesting to me when people say they want their leader to separate their religious views from their political views. How does that work? For example, if their religious views say they're opposed to using nuclear weapons, does that mean in order to "separate" their views, they would be pro-nukes at work?

Not at all. It means having the ability for one person to realize that they have no right to impose their religious beliefs on millions of others. How is it my right to impose on a gay couple? Just because I may think that it is not right is no reason for me to pass laws preventing them from exercising their rights to the pursuit of happiness. As long as a person's personal beliefs do not infringe on the rights of others in a way that is physically debilitating (IE I do NOT believe that a serial killer has a right to hack up people because it makes him happy) I think that person should have the right to do what makes them happy. What two (or three, or four, etc) adults do behind closed doors is nobody's business but their own. And if they want to say they are husband and husband, or wife and wife, and be entitled to all the benefits of a legally binding marriage, then why should an outsider's personal beliefs of how "icky" it is be imposed on them?

When we start excluding certain sects of our population we get into murky waters. If today it is not acceptable for two gay people to marry, then what is to stop society from backsliding into the past? Maybe next it'll be that it becomes illegal for a biracial couple to marry (something that has only been legal in Oklahoma in the United States since 1967, a little more than 40 years ago). Then maybe it'll be illegal for people of different social classes to marry, etc. etc. More than my right to believe in whatever I may choose to believe in, I believe that the rights of our society as a whole and the people in this society have to be protected. I'm going to vote for anyone who stands up for the rights of the American people, regardless of their religion.


On the opposite end of the spectrum, you get uber conservative Bible thumping "Christians" like this oh so infamous lady from my very own state. Rep. Sally Kern has been quoted saying such gems as,

"The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, OK, it's just a fact," "I honestly think it's the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat," and "It spreads, OK, and this stuff is deadly and it's spreading and it will destroy our young people," "It will destroy this nation."

And also from Fox News (of all places, I know)

Kern, who is finishing her second term, has tried unsuccessfully to pass bills to rid libraries' children's sections of books that have homosexual themes. She told the group that school children are being indoctrinated by gay activists.

"We're not teaching facts and knowledge any more, folks," she said. "We're teaching indoctrination, OK, and they are going after our young children, as young as 2 years of age, to try to teach them a homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle."

Do you know what that is?!? That is CENSORSHIP. She is trying to censor our libraries. Regardless of your own religious beliefs, we have to draw the line. Censorship is WRONG.

All of these quotes come from Fox News by the way.



How anyone who can be so hateful and discriminating can claim to be a Christian is beyond me. "Love thy neighbor" trumps "hate everyone who doesn't believe like me" in my book. Call me a Hippie love child of Jesus, but I believe that God would rather me love everyone and stand up for the rights of all my neighbors to be happy and free rathen than condemning some who don't believe like I do. You don't create converts by preaching hate. In fact, I tend not to be too preachy either because I believe that if someone wants to believe in another god, they have that right too. And I expect them to treat me with the same respect.

 

[InsaneMystic]

*sigh* Can't pass up this comment, even if it's somewhat off topic...

I wouldn't mind if they believed something that was different from my beliefs but I can't imagine how someone can claim they believe absolutely nothing. I'm not saying everyone has to be a part of some religion. At least for me its scary to think that once you die theres nothing.

I can't imagine how so many people can just believe. It just doesn't work for me. How can people blindly follow some religion whose claims they'll never get hard evidence for? I guess that is what true faith is all about, still following although you will never get ultimate proof (not in this life anyway), but for me it just feels like deceiving myself.

Everybody (at least those who are even remotely functional, psychologically) believes in thousands of things without objective proof... even if it's things like your own existence as a person, or the existence of an objective physical universe. You, as everyone, take many things on blind faith alone - it's just that, in your case and in the case of many others like you, that blind faith doesn't include existence of some kind of deity, while in my case and that of many others like me, it does include it. I simply happen to doubt the existence of the universe - including my physical body - more deeply than I doubt the existence of God, as I understand Him/Her/It. 🙂

Sure it's nice to speculate about those, but it's not like the true answer (which I still think is impossible to obtain for us at this point...maybe in a few centuries) really helps you out in any way...

I think you can scratch that "maybe" part. It's fundamentally impossible - anatomically, intellectually, and psychologically - for a human being to know the objective truth about anything. So, unless some kind of deity miraculously steps in and enlightens us by magic unexplainable to any human science past, present, or future, speculation about objective truths will forever remain a moot point from a human perspective. 😉

And as far as "Christian Values" (replace by any other religion) go...there's such a thing as moral and common sense...I don't see why you need spiritual guides for appropriate conduct.

Any ethical system is built on belief. Without some kind of belief system (not necessarily spiritual/religious in nature, even though you'll often find those at the core if you dig deep enough), "appropriate" would equal "what whim strikes me"; there's no objective reason why, e.g., killing someone for fun isn't an acceptable thing to do. "Murder is wrong" is common sense not because there were any cold hard objective proof for it to be true (there isn't - at least none that humans could know, see above), but because murder just happens to be fundamentally incompatible with the beliefs/values 99+% of people hold true.


Sorry for the OT rant, but "objectivity/truth/fact <> subjectivity/belief" simply is a philosophical debate that gets me hooked, Every. Single. Time. :blush:

 

[Washburne]

And as far as "Christian Values" (replace by any other religion) go...there's such a thing as moral and common sense...I don't see why you need spiritual guides for appropriate conduct.

Totally agree on that part. I hate it when people claim that if you got belief you're a better person that those who don't. To me it's way more important who you are as a person, not who you believe in or if you don't believe at all. Sure your beliefs might be a big part of who you are but it still comes down to individuality. Not like every christan or muslim (to take a few examples) are totally alike. So there's no way I would judge a person based on their belief.

As for moral and common sense. Those will never be the exact same to everyone. And that's the problem since we (humans) often seem to think that everything will be alright if we all just used or common sense.

 

[Wild At Heart]

Yes of course I would. I think it would actually be a really good thing. At least someone would be willing to give everyone equal rights instead of basing everything on the bible which isn't what this country is supposed to be based on alone. Everything in the government is a contradiction one way or the other. We need someone who will really change things & not be afraid to piss people off.

 

[Harley]

Why would an atheist president mean equal rights? Just because someone doesnt believe in God, it doesnt mean they treat everyone equal. On the same token, just because someone does believe God exists it doesnt mean they WONT give equal rights.
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[MRNewman]

I vote based on a candidate's support of the issues I believe in. If the person who best fits my values / is most competent happens to be a hermaphroditic, Baha'i practicer with three eyeballs from the Googly-goop Party, I'd vote for them. Same holds true for an atheist. I know there are some Christians and some conservatives (I being both) who disagree with that sentiment, but that's how I feel on this matter.