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Ron Paul: Atheism is like using drugs

I took it to mean that endorsing freedom of religion is not the same thing as endorsing atheism, which is true enough. It's also true of Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism, although I doubt he'd use the same analogy.
 
ravdin said:
I took it to mean that endorsing freedom of religion is not the same thing as endorsing atheism, which is true enough. It's also true of Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism, although I doubt he'd use the same analogy.
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Worse, he's equating the statement "endorsing legalization of drugs is not the same as endorsing doing drugs" with "endorsing freedom of religion is not the same as endorsing atheism." Given that atheism is a lack of religion rather than a religion, the atheism statement would be closer to saying "endorsing legalization of drugs is not the same as endorsing not doing drugs" which actually is the opposite of the point he seems to have been trying to make.

The fact that atheism isn't a religion aside, in order for his analogy to work he seems to be suggesting that atheism is a "bad" thing that people should generally refrain from, like doing drugs.

-Bri
 
I do not see Ron Paul equating atheism with drug use in this video...

I understood it as "I support religious freedom (including the freedom to have no religion), but that does not make me an atheist."

And, "I support freedom for you to put what you want in your body, but that does not make me a drug user and does not mean I think drug use is a good idea."


There are many things to criticize about Ron Paul, but this does not seem like one of them to me...
 
Barber Shop said:
I do not see Ron Paul equating atheism with drug use in this video...

I understood it as "I support religious freedom (including the freedom to have no religion), but that does not make me an atheist."

And, "I support freedom for you to put what you want in your body, but that does not make me a drug user and does not mean I think drug use is a good idea."


There are many things to criticize about Ron Paul, but this does not seem like one of them to me...
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I agree that's probably what he meant to say, but it was an awkward analogy. His analogy does imply that he agrees that both are "bad" but that making them legal doesn't indicate his endorsement of them.

-Bri
 
The title of the thread is highly misleading. Paul merely says that just as we have a right to choose whatever religion we want or to not have any religious belief, so we ought to have the right to choose what we do or do not put into our bodies. While I would not vote for Ron Paul, I'm in complete agreement with him on this issue.
 
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