....doesn't mean a politician becomes an atheist in office.
Seriously, that's how proponents of separating religion from government often seem to treat the issue.. Everyone has to pretend they're an atheist, as any expressed religious views are tantamount to government promoting a religious view at the expense of other religions...
Which is just ridiculous. I'd expect a Christian, or one of Islamic belief, or Jewish, or a Buddhist, or any other faith out there, to maintain their faith in office, and for that faith to shape their public policy.. It's unreasonable to expect them to switch their faith off, just because they're performing government work.
[QUOTE=13503086]Originally posted by cdtm
[B]....doesn't mean a politician becomes an atheist in office.
"Seriously, that's how proponents of separating religion from government often seem to treat the issue.. Everyone has to pretend they're an atheist, as any expressed religious views are tantamount to government promoting a religious view at the expense of other religions... "
Excuse my French, Cdtm, but that is total b.s.
Here in the USA you cannot begin to have a snowball's chance in a hot furnace of being elected without stating your religion and it had better be Christian if you want any votes. An atheist, agnostic, non-religious or person of a religion other than Christian can't even get a whiff at holding office in this country.
I wish we DID have true separation of church and state. We have "In God We Trust" on our money, our Congressional sessions open with a prayer, Govt. money even goes to some religious institutions and religious schools - that's taxpayer money from people that that particular religion may even condemn if those people are of some other religion, no religion, or homosexual, and we're constantly dealing with religion encroaching on our public schools and legal system.
to be fair, the "in god we trust" or prayer things aren't really that problematic...
separation of church and state, as cdtm says, doesn't mean that the elected officials can't behave in a religious manner, but rather, they cannot restrict the religious freedoms of people in the nation. Having the word God on money hardly does that, unless your religious freedom is somehow infringed by it being there?
the only people I can think of that might have a legitimate claim against "in god we trust" on money would be those like Jehovah's Witnesses, who, afaik, think even modest forms of idolatry are totally sacrilegious
however, if the state mandated policy in such a way that it didn't offend any religious traditions, that would be a specific violation of church and state. (forcing society to conform to specific religious traditions). For atheists, agnostics or non-believers to have a legitimate claim that the word "god" infringes on their rights, they would have to believe something akin to religion about the word itself. The word God on money is in no way forcing someone to accept that religious tradition, and the economy itself is such an areligious space that it would hardly matter if currency was covered in religious iconography.
The only possible exception I can see would be if it cost more somehow to put religious symbols on the money, so like, if the government were spending extra to have "in god we trust" there, which would mean your tax dollars are going to specifically religious things, rather than just money printing in general.
Behaving in a religious manner by an elected official should be a private matter, not included as part of his/her job. We don't generally open the business day at our jobs with a prayer - but a session of Congress is. And when the President accepts his job - he's sworn in on the Bible - can you imagine being asked to do that at your place of work.
Having the word God on money infringes on those who don't believe in a deity, but personally it doesn't matter that much to me. And no, I'm not an atheist.
However, my main point was - in this country (USA) you HAVE TO HAVE some stated Christian faith or you can simply forget about running for office. A non-religious person would have no chance whatsoever of gaining public office. Want to get elected to Congress? House of Representatives? President? - then you'd better get your butt to a house of worship and become a member el pronto - and you probably had better plan ahead - because a quick conversion might not be believable to the voters.
When phrases like "God damn it" or "Oh my God" are said by people don't believe in a deity, it infringes on the rights of those who do.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
If atheists were actually interested in the scientific method rather than just sperging out over creationism, they would accept racial differences in IQ.
__________________ Ask me about my "obvious and unpleasant agenda of hatred."
That's a topic that doesn't receive enough attention. Every God-fearing atheist with a brain knows black>Asians>Whites>Cubans>Them shifty Mexicans>Germans>Communists>Indians>Them Other Indians.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
An Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress.
I guess Congress is God and it's own church
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Aug 18th, 2011 05:46 PM
