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When someone admits to being an atheist they destroy any chance to be president

DOC

Philosopher
D
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
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Yes, to my knowledge, there has never been or can be a publicly admitted atheist president. In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president. Or maybe never be a Senator for that matter.
 
DOC said:
Yes, to my knowledge, there has never been or can be a publicly admitted atheist president. In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president. Or maybe never be a Senator for that matter.
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Given the calibre of people that routinely fill such offices? No.
 
DOC said:
Yes, to my knowledge, there has never been or can be a publicly admitted atheist president. In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president. Or maybe never be a Senator for that matter.
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does it bother you that there are an awful lot of religious bigots in the USA?
 
kmortis said:
Someone wake me when he comes to a point, k? I'm worn out from makin all those pancakes.
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I did make a point -- a publicly admitted atheist can never be president. If you are an atheist does that bother you.
 
Just lie. Then when elected reveal your Satanic plans for destruction of Mum, God and Apple Pie.
 
DOC said:
Yes, to my knowledge, there has never been or can be a publicly admitted atheist president. In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president. Or maybe never be a Senator for that matter.
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We are very aware of the situation as evidenced by the number of JREF threads concerning political polls that ask

If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be a 'X' would you vote for that person?"

results from Gallup's 1999 poll:

Black ---------- 95
Baptist -------- 94
Catholic ------- 94
Jewish --------- 92
Woman -------- 92
Homosexual -- 59
Atheist --------- 49

Does it bother me that over half of the voting electorate consists of small-minded people would not vote for a well-qualified atheist? A little bit. Does it bother me that I cannot be president becasue of my position? No.

Why do you ask?
 
Mojo said:
does it bother you that there are an awful lot of religious bigots in the USA?
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Wouldn't you call all the atheists in this forum who make fun of and ridicule Christians, bigots?
 
The common knowledge that an avowed atheist would likely lose a presidential election does not reflect badly on atheism. That simply shows that the voting public is largely irrational, and they don't base their decisions on a candidate's qualifications for the actual job.

Speaking of unlikely presidential candidates, there is a lot of speculation in the media that shades of this country's racist past would keep us from electing a black president. Your not so subtle implication that atheists are inherently inferior political candidates is morally no different than saying blacks shouldn't hold office. Apples and oranges you might say, but while religious bigotry and racist bigotry may have different motivators, but they are still rooted in the same rotten ideal.

By the way DOC, when are you going to answer the questions in this thread? http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88044 If you raise questions on this forum it only seems fair to expect you to answer ours in turn. If your goal is to save souls then you're functionally asleep on the job.

So I'm left wondering...are you here to save souls, or are you simply a coward?

Prove me wrong.
 
DOC said:
In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president.
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So you're asking if atheists are bothered by your opinion? I'm guessing the answer is "no."
 
DOC said:
Wouldn't you call all the atheists in this forum who make fun of and ridicule Christians, bigots?
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Is making fun of someone the same as declaring that they should not be in the ultimate position fo authority?

Show me a poster who says that they will never vote for a religious president, and I'll show you a bigot. Unless you can meat that standard your comparison is invalid.
 
I would never vote for a religious person for President.

I would vote for state electors pledged to a religious candidate, though, particularly if he were unnecessarily pedantic.
 
DOC said:
Yes, to my knowledge, there has never been or can be a publicly admitted atheist president. In the land of "In God we Trust" it is just impossible in my opinion. Does it bother atheists to know they can never be president. Or maybe never be a Senator for that matter.
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"Never"? Please.

Your point is a strong one against religious ignorance, not against atheists. Doesn't it bother you that so many people have an anti-American attitude towards atheists?
 
Cello Man said:
The common knowledge that an avowed atheist would likely lose a presidential election does not reflect badly on atheism. That simply shows that the voting public is largely irrational, and they don't base their decisions on a candidate's qualifications for the actual job.
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So would you say Congress was irrational when they made the phrase "In God We Trust" the official motto of the United States in 1956.
 
Pft. The most qualified presidential candidate is the one best able to play the political game and tell people what they want to hear. If the majority of the population is Christian, then declaring one's atheism is not playing the political game properly. Therefore that candidate isn't best qualified to do the job.

Anyone who can't give the public what they want won't last long in politics. Therefore any atheist candidate who knows what he's doing will feign religious belief in order to get along.

Which is fine, it's all BS anyway.
 
DOC said:
So would you say Congress was irrational when they made the phrase "In God We Trust" the official motto of the United States in 1956.
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Irrational?

Well...That was adopted not out of any religious adherence so much as Cold War-era propaganda showing up those "godless commies." This was the same reason that "under God" was inserted into the up-until-then secular Pledge of Allegiance.

So maybe "irrational" isn't the right word, so much as "completely insane."
 
DOC said:
So would you say Congress was irrational when they made the phrase "In God We Trust" the official motto of the United States in 1956.
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Oh, is that the motto that originated during the time of McCarthy's witch hunts? Thought so. Yes. Most definitely irrational.


ETA: Or what Cleon said.
 
I admit that I'm Canadian. That means I can never be president.

Does it bother anyone that a Canadian can't be president?

I like to think that being atheist would not prevent anyone from being our Prime Minister. While the religious feelings of politicians comes up from time to time it doesn't seem to be an issue unless they are quite fundy.

I notice that in the U.S. it sometimes seems like the only issue. That's a shame really.
 
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