Would you vote for an atheist president?

The question should be asked, would you vote for an atheist president? What would concern you about such a President? Would you be worried that his morals might be askew with the notion that there is not a higher authority to answer to so long as no one ever discovers what his vices are? Would you worry that they would have blatant disregard for those of various religious faiths in the US and around the world or even belittle them at times? Would the Islamic nations have a greater disdain of the US government than it already has if an atheist were to be elected? Come to think of it, have there been any atheist presidents in the US that have been elected as such? It seems to me that the majority rules in a democracy so if the majority believes in God then should they not elect someone who identifies with such beliefs?

Originally posted by whodey
The question should be asked, would you vote for an atheist president? What would concern you about such a President? Would you be worried that his morals might be askew with the notion that there is not a higher authority to answer to so long as no one ever discovers what his vices are? Would you worry that they would have blatant disregard for those of v ...[text shortened]... he majority believes in God then should they not elect someone who identifies with such beliefs?

If I had to choose between an honest atheist and a Hypocritical theist I'd vote for the atheist.
That is as long as he/she was a true conservative.

Originally posted by josephw
If I had to choose between an honest atheist and a Hypocritical theist I'd vote for the atheist.
That is as long as he/she was a true conservative.

An honest politician? Ar'nt honesty and politics mutually exclusive? LOL.

absolutely, one has nothing to do with the other

Originally posted by whodey
An honest politician? Ar'nt honesty and politics mutually exclusive? LOL.

I think that's why everyone votes for the lesser of two evils.

Originally posted by whodey
The question should be asked, would you vote for an atheist president? What would concern you about such a President? Would you be worried that his morals might be askew with the notion that there is not a higher authority to answer to so long as no one ever discovers what his vices are? Would you worry that they would have blatant disregard for those of v ...[text shortened]... he majority believes in God then should they not elect someone who identifies with such beliefs?

- Yes, I would.
- Nothing other than their position on the issues.
- No. Atheists are no more and no less moral than theists. The ridiculous canard that atheists have no moral compass is exactly that - a canard.

- No. As long as they believe in religious freedom I don't care. I've seen more theists that have more disregard for that freedom than I have atheists.

- I don't give a flying crap what the Islamic nations think. We're idiots if we use that as a gauge.

- There haven't been any atheist presidents as far as I know and unfortunately too many people are too prejudiced now to vote for one.

- People can vote for whomever they want for whatever criteria they want. Frankly, I think if your number one issue is "do they believe in god" then you are myopic and misguided... but hey, vote on whatever you wish.

I think that answers your questions 🙂

Originally posted by PsychoPawn
- Yes, I would.
- Nothing other than their position on the issues.
- No. Atheists are no more and no less moral than theists. The ridiculous canard that atheists have no moral compass is exactly that - a canard.

- No. As long as they believe in religious freedom I don't care. I've seen more theists that have more disregard for that freedom than I hav sguided... but hey, vote on whatever you wish.

I think that answers your questions 🙂

So your position is religion is not the issue? Interesting. I think the likes of Romney and Huckabee and Osama would say the same thing.

Originally posted by whodey
So your position is religion is not the issue? Interesting. I think the likes of Romney and Huckabee and Osama would say the same thing.

Wow... that's quite ridiculous.

My position is someone's religion doesn't define their morality or their position on the issues.

My position is that idiots who think that just because someone believes in god then they somehow are more moral or more qualified are exactly that - idiots.

It's ridiculous to suggest that religion is THE issue. An issue, maybe, but not the only issue by a long stretch.

Are you actually trying to suggest that I'm on Osama bin laden's side because that's my opinion? Ridiculous.

Originally posted by whodey
The question should be asked, would you vote for an atheist president? What would concern you about such a President? Would you be worried that his morals might be askew with the notion that there is not a higher authority to answer to so long as no one ever discovers what his vices are? Would you worry that they would have blatant disregard for those of v ...[text shortened]... he majority believes in God then should they not elect someone who identifies with such beliefs?

The closest to an Atheist president was Thomas Jefferson. He was a Unitarian.

Originally posted by PsychoPawn
Wow... that's quite ridiculous.

My position is someone's religion doesn't define their morality or their position on the issues.

My position is that idiots who think that just because someone believes in god then they somehow are more moral or more qualified are exactly that - idiots.

It's ridiculous to suggest that religion is THE issue. An is ...[text shortened]... ying to suggest that I'm on Osama bin laden's side because that's my opinion? Ridiculous.

I never made the declaration that religion was an issue, rather, I was merely raising the question. To be honest, my inspirition came from the ones who questioned if one should vote for someone who believes in creation. What difference does that make?

Originally posted by caissad4
The closest to an Atheist president was Thomas Jefferson. He was a Unitarian.

I am not so sure. All we know is that there are none on record as being atheists. I think it would not have been politically expedient to say otherwise.

Originally posted by whodey
The question should be asked, would you vote for an atheist president? What would concern you about such a President? Would you be worried that his morals might be askew with the notion that there is not a higher authority to answer to so long as no one ever discovers what his vices are? Would you worry that they would have blatant disregard for those of v ...[text shortened]... he majority believes in God then should they not elect someone who identifies with such beliefs?

I would vote for an atheist president. Just because I didn't vote for George W Bush doesn't mean I wouldn't consider voting for an atheist president in the future. 🙂 Generally, though, I vote based on character. A man's (or woman's) character is a good indication as to their overall judgment. If I think someone is an incorrigible BS'er who'll say and do anything to get elected, like Romney, then I steer clear, whether or not they claim to have faith in a higher power of some sort.

Obama '08!!!

Originally posted by whodey
I never made the declaration that religion was an issue, rather, I was merely raising the question. To be honest, my inspirition came from the ones who questioned if one should vote for someone who believes in creation. What difference does that make?

Whether someone believes in creationism could be an issue simply because I think it is important to have a president that is literate in science and is going to promote science and not try and inject creationism into science classes.

If a candidate can believe in creationism and also acknowlege that creationism is religion and not science then it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

Any beliefs that a candidate might hold that would affect their policies is somewhat relevant, but how they would affect their policies is the critical issue.

The truth is that in a typical multi party system, when you vote you are really choosing between one of two possible people or abstaining (voting for a minor party candidate etc). So the real questions should be:
1. Could a self declared atheist ever get to be a presidential candidate of a large political party in your country?
2. If faced with two atheists as the main party candidates would you abstain?
3. If your favorite party (that you would vote for if the candidate is ignored) puts forward an atheist as a candidate, how would that affect your position?
4. What can you tell about someone simply because he has declared himself an atheist? eg is he more or less moral than average, is he more or less likely to have policies that are negative or positive for your religion etc. How would it affect his stance on science education?
Note that on point No 4, most non-creationists consider creationists to be either uneducated or slightly delusional simply based on their declaration as creationists, can a similar judgment be applied to atheists ?

if he speaks and understands riddles, has a name that has a human number and gets power by flattery..... seems we do