cejuan

I'm thinking of sending something along the lines of the rough draft below to the three presidential candidates to encourage them to clarify a few things about religion. I know this is unlikely to get any results, but maybe it and a bunch of other letters would someday make a difference. Obviously I will want to send it ASAP but I would welcome any suggestions or comments from you all as I fix it up. If there should happen to be anyone who would like to plagarize some of this and send their own letters they would be more than welcome to it.

Thanks.

Dear generic presidential candidate,

I am writing to make sure you are aware of my existence. I am an Agnostic who is deeply concerned about morality. I am a member of a large but relatively silent group that includes Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, Freethinkers, etc. We tend not to be heard because we don't form large top down driven organizations that dictate our direction and amplify our voices. We do however notice when politicians infringe on our right to freedom from religion. This is a right which I expect to have applied to the expenditure of my tax dollars as well as to my personal freedoms.

We also notice when politicians belittle us. An example would be when a politician uses the term ''values voter'' to refer to people who base their morality on religion. I too have strongly held values and I don’t appreciate the implication that their values are more important or more strongly felt than mine. I value the golden rule and I value reasoned analysis of how our decisions impact the rights of others. I consider it immoral to deceive, to steal, to rape, to murder or to act as if choosing to believe something could give me special moral authority to limit the rights of others without rational justification.

At this time I am asking you for three things.

1) Specifically and publicly clarify how your religious beliefs will affect your decisions if you are elected. When given a religious based argument on a tough issue how will you determine its validity and how will you weigh it against other arguments. For example, and this is just an example- I want to understand your decision-making process not your stance on this issue, if your pastor or the bible told you ''God doesn't approve of stem cell research'' how would you determine the truth of this statement. Also, how much weight would you give it relative to the argument ''many knowledgeable scientists believe that the research has promise and are willing to commit their careers to pursuing it'' (assuming you can verify the truth of this argument).

2) Stop perpetuating the stereotypes about people such as me. You can do this by correcting people who use language such as “values voter” or by pointing out that religious affiliation is not a reliable indicator of the quality of an individual.

3) Participate in the science debate scheduled for April 18, 2008 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania so that we can evaluate your understanding of scientific issues. The invitation, which you should have already received, can be viewed at http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/

Thank you,

shadowind

sounds cool, im curious how much they have "changed" for their party and external forces and such, argh i have to go.

__________________
remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

AB517

You have made one big mistake in your assumption.

That they are thinking about anything but themselves.

cejuan

I know that feeling all too well.

cejuan

I've been associated with some of these people for many years and can assure you that at least some of them are good thoughtful people. I'm certainly going to give them the chance to understand why their behaviour is problematic before I write them off as thoughtless.

cejuan

Sorry, my last post made no sense whatsoever. I was thinking of another discussion on another forum and applied your response to that topic. I guess I'm spread too thin right now.

What I should have said is, you are right of course. But, if enough of us speak up, someday they will have to pretend they care about our concerns too. Also, I want to develop these kind of questions to ask them if I should ever get the chance to make them answer one in front of the general public. I'm sure religious people would learn something from the responses to my questions if they ever answered such things publically. It might make them less inclined to base their votes on religiosity.

AB517

You are right of course. Some of them are.

timmyg

I like your letter, although i doubt you'll receive any significant response, at least from the leading candidates

it seems the line separating church and state in America has been getting thinner lately
we really need more religion-free politicians elected into office
the problem is young people don't vote and every senior citizen votes, sometimes in groups
and there aren't many religion-free seniors