specifically a president. i believe there are laws in various states that mandate one has to be of a particular faith before holding office(?)

?

in the name of, by the will of god... omg, Bush is a believer..?

can a atheist get elected in america?
Not as long as we're a severely under-represented, voting minority.

While Article VI of the Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States," it is clear, in the wake of the heated public reactions to the comments made by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, that politicians must continue to publicly embrace religion in order to be elected. "No avowed atheist could be elected president, pure and simple," comments Dr. Derek Davis, director of the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies.

Even a cursory perusal of the biographies of the nation's Congressmen and governors makes this point clear. There is not a single "atheist," "agnostic," or "free-thinker" listed, and only seven members of Congress--out of five hundred and thirty five--declined to state a religious affiliation (as did four governors). "Americans are still unwilling to entrust leadership to people who do not acknowledge the reality of a God who is sovereign over all earthly affairs," concludes Davis.

Is this always a positive benefit, however? "Politicians increasingly are expected to talk openly of their religious faith, even if they have to practically concoct some sort of commitment during election season," notes Dr. Barry Hankins, a specialist in religion in America. As a result, the value of sincere religious expression can be cheapened, if potential candidates for office believe that it is more important to "go through the motions" rather than be up-front and forthcoming about their personal views. It also contributes to the growing cynicism about politics in general, that politicians are willing to lie in order to be elected.

"One can draw parallels with medieval societies that required leaders to recite a creed before being inagurated," says Dr. Nikolas Gvosdev, associate director. "The difference is that in America, one doesn't have to pledge allegiance to a particular set of dogmas, but one still has to publicly believe in something."

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5357/ventura.html

wonderful! can we get anymore barbaric?

:mad:

Electing Atheists to Political Office (http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=122)

http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=2490

In fact, the state of Texas is one of several states which has even enshrined this bigoted policy into law: its state constitution bars anyone from public office if he does not acknowledge the "existence of a Supreme Being".

what are the other states? have the laws been struck down?

Im an antagonist in that case. I beleive that the merits of ones service and public policy should be what gets them elected not them professing profoundly in something that they half believe. What will it take to get the people of America to become mentally enlightened and not prone to this collosal cult?

Sure an atheist can become president and have. All a politition has to do is lie and how hard can that be?

Yes and sit threw those boring sermons. Its easy for them after all it is in their blood.

Theoreticially yes. The problem is that we have a lot of right-wing religious, people who wouldn't vote for a athiest. People who would cause problems for him/her to get elected. That I'm aware most places don't/can't make athiesim illegal.

Originally posted by spookz
i believe there are laws in various states that mandate one has to be of a particular faith before holding office(?)

I never heard that.
Is that true?

As far as things are today (and appear to be going) we will probably never elect an Atheist as president.
I sincerely doubt it, anyway.

Though we already HAVE HAD an Atheist as president (sort of).
One of the forefathers of the country, in fact...

Though Thomas Jefferson was raised Episcopalian, he later rejected religion and the Christian version of God.
He never publicly said, "I am an Atheist" but read some of his quotes:
"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. " -- Thomas Jefferson to Baron von Humboldt, 1813

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear." --Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites." -- Thomas Jefferson

"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity." --Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782.

"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors." --Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

"Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus."

" I have examined all the known superstitions of the word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."

What was Jeffersons exact words for the Bible? "Dunghill."

Andrew Johnson and Abe Lincoln were non-denominational.

America needs another Jefferson in so many ways.

no

It is not clear to me that most Americans would be able to discern between a politician that was a Nazi posing as a Christian and one that actually lived by Christian moral and ethical standards. I come from Christian roots, yet I do not recognize Bush's approach to solving problems (particularly his intolerance, impatience, bigotry, and failure at diplomacy) to represent Christian values as I know them.

I might vote for an athiest as long as they still had some code of ethics and wasnt about to ban any religious practices. An athiest might be actually an improvement because they would work entirely towards the current good and not the good of a later life. An agnostic would be even more preferable though.

Alpha: The traits you just listed DO seem to be chatacteristic of christianity, at least at one time. ie: the crusades, the inquisition, the use of force to convert, witch trials, etc. Not that every religion and the lack therof cant be just as bad at their worst.

What an strange country America is....

its a strange species.... get used to it ;)

Clockwood:

You are right, of course, in terms of many human deeds of history done in the name of Christianity... how "Christians" destroyed the cultures as well as the peoples of Native America after European contact is a perfect case in point. The religious texts associated with Christianity certainly have been interpreted in a broad variety of ways. Of course, that could be said of almost every religion that exists or has ever existed on the planet. From the standpoint of human (i.e. primate) evolution its pretty easy to make the case that a lot of "evil" that some have attached to "Christianity" and/or "Islam" results from our animal natures.... particularly (with some controversy over this position) the psychological nature of males.

I've even heard conservative right wing Christians argue against the positions of environmentalists (me thinks of a shrubbery!). On the other hand, there is a growing movement among some Christians for a position of stewardship towards the environment. I also know many Christians who try to follow precepts of tolerance, as in "judge not that you be not judged". My personal take on Christianity, my flavor if you would, would be persistent in its pursuit of diplomacy. However it would be stubborn and outspoken in the face of oppression and attempts to stifle anti-war sentiments and expression. "Blessed are the peacemakers..." (and I don't think that referred to current vernacular for a Colt 45 or an ICBM).

I must say that I have not been in a "church" in many years, and view hikes in the wilderness with close friends as more edifying spiritually than sitting in a church on a Sunday morning. Yet, I must acknowledge the influence of my exposure to Christian texts at an early age on my current views.

If you have ever watched one of the old cowboy movies about lynching, a true Christian (at least in my book) would be one who would stand up to the lynch mob and speak for a quelling of murderous passions in pursuit of truth and justice, just as Christ stood up to the mob about to stone a prostitute and said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

The difficulty is that it is one of the realities of human existence that it is easier to believe than it is to know... and we still know so little, and there are so many who would try to deceive us.

You fools think that Bush is big on Christianity because he says some common lingo.....He's not....No politician have any religion....They all select a profile that will make them win. So to all Atheists who wish to run for presidency, just say you're christian or jews or muslims or whatever will please America at the time of your running, although you know in your hearts that you believe in nothing, and apologize to your Atheist god for lying, although some strong Atheists can skip that step, and go become the first undercover Atheist President.

As Nicolo Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, "A Prince doesn't have to be good; he only has to appear to be good. It's been required reading for every politician, I would expect.

Originally posted by Coldrake
As Nicolo Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, "A Prince doesn't have to be good; he only has to appear to be good. It's been required reading for every politician, I would expect.

Then Bush is no Prince...