RELIGIOUS PEOPLE: Do you think there will / could ever be an agnostic / atheistic POTUS?

[rickyrobot]

I was watching the VP debate on Youtube because I didn't catch it live, and one of the last questions was regarding the VP's respective religions (both Catholic). It made me wonder...

Do you think there ever will be an agnostic/atheistic President?

Do you think there ever could be, considering our nation's history and general culture?

Most importantly, do you think the lack of faith would make a candidate better or worse for leading our nation? Why?

Personally, I don't associate lack of faith with lack of morals, but rather with sound, logical judgment, so I don't see it as a bad thing. Would it make the candidate better than a religious candidate? Not necessarily. I just don't think it'd hurt.

Discuss.

 

[Master Zik]

Some would say we have one now.

.... but sure we'll have one right after the rapture

Seriously, the current change would have to increase and atheism would have to be some wave over the country for me to see that happen for someone who is openly atheist. I'd see no reason why the lack of faith would be worse. I'd actually love to see ppl challenge that with moral dilemma questions (even though lack of morals =/= lack of faith) since that whole issue leans so heavily on the philosophy of ethics.

 

[dman22193]

I would rather have an atheist president over a religious. Laws and decisions encouraged by "faith" is one of the biggest issues in this country

 

[mmg]

I would rather have an atheist president over a religious. Laws and decisions encouraged by "faith" is one of the biggest issues in this country

came to post this.

 

[trilluminated]

if there is, they sure as hell won't be open about..

the south ain't having it.

 

[rickyrobot]

Edited to garner a more appropriate response base.

 

[Smorgasbordgie]

I would rather have an atheist president over a religious. Laws and decisions encouraged by "faith" is one of the biggest issues in this country

I'd definitely agree with this. Things would operate more smoothly.

 

[djyoung08]

In before future

 

[BloodxBone]

Maybe somewhere down the line with the Millennial generation?

 

[je ne sais quoi]

When aliens finally touch down and realtalks us about how we were created ages ago because one of their ******ed alien relatives made a pitstop on Earth and "accidentally" jizzed in primordial goo way back when resulting in our species.

Our President and future Presidents will have to accept that there is no God, all religions were wrong, and that we're all a product of the jizzum of an alien.

Then World Peace will happen.

Profit.

 

[blakep267]

I was watching the VP debate on Youtube because I didn't catch it live, and one of the last questions was regarding the VP's respective religions (both Catholic). It made me wonder...

Do you think there ever will be an agnostic/atheistic President?

Do you think there ever could be, considering our nation's history and general culture?

Most importantly, do you think the lack of faith would make a candidate better or worse for leading our nation? Why?

Personally, I don't associate lack of faith with lack of morals, but rather with sound, logical judgment, so I don't see it as a bad thing. Would it make the candidate better than a religious candidate? Not necessarily. I just don't think it'd hurt.

Discuss.

but as you said it wouldnt necessarily make them a better candidate if they are atheist. To me, a religious candidate who has views, but has no desire to force others to adhere to those views, isnt any different than than somebody who doesnt believe at all.

 

[tommyicerocking]

if there is, they sure as hell won't be open about..

the south ain't having it.

this tbh

 

[ryda421]

inb4 future

 

[jubilantoutlier]

.... but sure we'll have one right after the rapture

OP why is it only the religious people who can guess the religion (or lack thereof) of a future president?

 

[iblink]

A religious and political topic. Should have put "Vol. FutureMD" in the thread line

But by now, I wouldn't doubt that one of those men weren't as religious as they claimed. Probably cloaked their agnosticism for the same of votes. Sort of like people who don't believe in religion, yet undergo religious ceremonies (like marriage) for the sake of acceptance. You never said openly agnostic.

 

[sumrndmdude]

inb4 future

op is future

 

[Jordan8]

We have one now

 

[SoleByThePound]

I would rather have an atheist president over a religious. Laws and decisions encouraged by "faith" is one of the biggest issues in this country

Completely agree.

 

[kingkoopa]

I would rather have an atheist president over a religious. Laws and decisions encouraged by "faith" is one of the biggest issues in this country

You really, really, really don't want that..... just sayin.

 

[sumrndmdude]

The question is what type of atheist leader do you want? An atheist leader who says 'f' religion and anyone who believes in god? Because then you get this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist-Leninist_atheism

 

[thecantave]

We already have. But will not in this political climate.

Thomas Jefferson: Deist at best, possibly atheist. Very "irreligious."
Andrew Jackson: never known to attend a church after the age of 10, not a member of any church nor an attendee while president. Joined a church (evidence suggests to appease his wife) a year after leaving the presidency.
Abraham Lincoln: described by close friends as an atheist. Very "irreligious."
John Tyler: "religious views are doubtful." Never joined any church, fervent supporter of separation of church and state.
William Howard Taft: before becoming president, Taft was offered the presidency of Yale University, then affiliated with the Congregational church. He turned it down, saying in a letter, "I do not believe in the divinity of christ."

 

[sumrndmdude]

We already have. But will not in this political climate.

Thomas Jefferson: Deist at best, possibly atheist. Very "irreligious."
Andrew Jackson: never known to attend a church after the age of 10, not a member of any church nor an attendee while president. Joined a church (evidence suggests to appease his wife) a year after leaving the presidency.
Abraham Lincoln: described by close friends as an atheist. Very "irreligious."
John Tyler: "religious views are doubtful." Never joined any church, fervent supporter of separation of church and state.
William Howard Taft: before becoming president, Taft was offered the presidency of Yale University, then affiliated with the Congregational church. He turned it down, saying in a letter, "I do not believe in the divinity of christ."

difference between an atheist and non practitioner???

You could believe in something and be against religious institutions?

 

[benny bugatti]

Man, we all know Obama is faking the funk. Dude became religious after realizing he needed it to help his political career.

 

[futuremd]

We've already got one. Obama:

Obama isn't a christian. If you ask me, he's a closet non-believer.

As for why Romney gets a pass? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/309064/

Yeah...Obama is a non-believer if you ask me. I can't prove it because he won't say it, but I think the evidence is there. We'll never know since he won't reveal it as its political suicide at the present time. Plus, what would it take to really believe him? Its not hard to fake a couple prayers here and there. 

About his mother

 "This isn't to say that she provided me with no religious instruction. In her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology. On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. But I was made to understand that such religious samplings required no sustained commitment on my part. Religion was an expression of human culture, she would explain, not its wellspring, just one of the many ways —and not necessarily the best way — that man attempted to control the unknowable and understand the deeper truths about our lives."

His biological father[? Atheist.

His mother? Atheist AND anthropologist (understanding human society and behavior)

His grandfather  and grandmother  that raised him? Both vocal atheists (talks about this a lot in his books). His grandmother actually started to attend very liberal unitarian churches as well. 

Simply put: Black people aren't getting elected if they're not religious.

Quotes like this and that speech from 2006[6] he did where he espouses his problems with referring to the bible show me that hes a closet atheist/very agnostic person that is playing the game of political musical chairs.

Don't forget this:

He "found" god @ 26 as a community organizer in Chicago and if you know chicago, theres a lot of black people there and you're not going to get famous there, as black man, without the black vote which comes from black churches. He had to play the game.

Grew up in extremely diverse settings, i'm sure having memories of madrasas allowed him to contrast that with the radical christianity in america....

Hes one of the smartest presidents, on paper, that we've ever had. Remember, they tried to make fun of him because he went to the best schools in the country? I mean come on as if being a biracial kid raised by a single mother (even though she used to work for the Ford Foundation...LOL) isn't a massive hurdle in life.

Every chance he gets hes always promoting STEM fields and human achievement. Not willy nilly passive goals.

He rarely says that prayer influences his decisions a-la Bush 1 or 2, or even the possibly closet atheist that clinton was said to be. Faith is never a member of his team of decision makers.

When he forgets to pray people blow their lids off and call him unamerican. He left god out of the verbatim recitation of various historical documents[8] and speeches[9] and 9/11[1

Hes not religious At all.

Every time he opens his mouth about christianity it sounds forced as hell[11] . I'm not going to go into his politics or anything...but I think to call him a closet atheist, is not a far stretch at all. I know many  love the "wheres the evidence" claim, but to be honest here. Obama has had more secular groups at the white house than any other president[13] , a point verified by many fundie-right wingers; so i'm sure they'd be honest about feeling threatened. He only refers to religion during times of tragedy[14] , mandatory events like prayer breakfasts[15] ...or when hes trolling the GOP like he recently basically said "this is what jesus would do,"[16] to try and convince them to adopt his politics.

He trolls religion regularly. Its obvious. Why else do you think all the fundies are scared they would lose their privileges under him? He even campaigned on eliminating faith-based initiatives[17] but after the backlash following his election he was forced to backtrack and reinforce the initiative with a "faith office". On top of that, don't forget him trying to get catholics to pay for birth control... hes trolling catholic church hospitals these days[18] . I'm certain that even slightly religious people would have more "respect" for people of faith and their autonomy.

Obama has supported gay-rights WHOLEHEARTEDLY[19] since 1996 AT LEAST

No one in politics or academia believes him; Even people with different views don't believe him:

Chris Hitchens[2 , Richard Dawkins[21] , Ann Coulter[22] , Lawrence Krauss[23] , Pat Buchanan[24] , Franklin Graham[25] , Pat Roberson[26] , Bill Maher[27] , Penn Jillette[28] etc. All of them think hes faking it. Hardcore christians and hardcore atheists.

He also campaigned on getting religion out of hiring practices: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20082217-503544.html[29]

He's the first president to acknowledge non-believers: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-20-obama-non-believers_N.htm[3

Now you want info on Jeremiah Wright? Obama probably only distantly knew the guy. He had to more than likely only show up for appearances to make him seem like he was in touch with the community.

Here is a point we need to talk about... Jeremiah Wright was caught saying "god damn america"...but you really don't understand what he was getting at.[31] He was saying how utterly ****** up this country has been to minorities. Its true. You can deny it all you want, but he was highlighting a truth, albeit emotionally. He just wanted to say that America should really recognize their ways if they want to embrace Obama. Its kinda that "hey, they don't like me? well damn them!" Jeremiah Wright is not racist. Not at all. But you have to remember the bias white/right-wing america feels to anyone who talks about white priviledge[32] or exposes their messed up of institutionalized racism, so of course the clip was crazy. Obama had to throw him under the bus to move on[33] .

Black churches are the greatest source of networking in most urban communities, especially if black leaders are known to attend. Its all a game. I know in every major city with a sizable minority population that many times, elected black officials only show up to church in times of election or when they need community support. They adopt a church home only to show their relation to the community. Its all for show. They have to connect with the people some how. Thats what a "representative" (in his case Senator) does.

Name a president who says this in his inaugural speech:

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and  nonbelievers.  We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth."

He's already the negro, kenyan, socialist, communist, anti christ, who hates America.

Why throw people another bone to hate him for?

Few links outlining many inconsistencies in his "faith":

1. 
   http://thekingsmanpaper.com/2012/03/the-atheist-in-chief/
2. 
   http://jewishatheist.blogspot.com/2007/10/obama-and-religion.html
3. 
   http://johntreed.com/Obamaatheist.html

Here he is making fun clinging to guns and religion: 

There is even a new biography that tackles his introduction to christianity and it sounds...forced at best

And to cap it off, here is a section from "The Audacity of Hope". Start in the middle of p.198—p.206 http://lnk.co/KPZUD[39] . If that doesn't scream "faking it" to you, I don't know what will.

 

[futuremd]

The question is what type of atheist leader do you want? An atheist leader who says 'f' religion and anyone who believes in god? Because then you get this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist-Leninist_atheism

I want a SECULAR leader, not an some atheistic evangelist. Thats no good either. 

And you also have to understand that people like Kim Jong il, Mao, or Stalin might have been non-believers, but they were deified individuals. They were treated as the religion themselves. Thats no good either.

Religion isn't limited to merely abrahamic religions or the ones with thousands of followers. Religion can describe any cult-like behavior.