George

I think that it's a good idea to have religious people in politics. They bring their own set of ideals and morals to the discussion.

But when they get elected then turn into "I've got God on my side and you're all wrong" types it really highlights the divisive nature of religion and becomes a problem.

Is it possible to be religious without truly believing in your heart that your way is the right way and having that affect your decisions as a politician?

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jaej

This is why many people still support Bush, despite his atrocious failures. They (I'm referring to Christians here) believe that Bush was god's will, so anything that happens is according to god's plan, so no matter how bad he is they will always support him. It's madness.

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Armel P

John Kerry said he was that way. And I believe John Ashcroft did as well. Religion typically tell people how to make there own choices so creating policies to force others to make the same choices strays from that idea.

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Jacob

Overly religious politicians give me the creeps. Although they might outwardly exhibit positive virtues, they may make irrational decisions in accordance to what they think their unproven God wants them to. I.E.: the christian right's gung-ho approach to the Iraq war.

Jacob

Maximus

Yeah I don't like religious politicians, they ruin a lot of causes, like the anti-abortion cause, I'm not against abortion because of morality or anything like that, it's the benefit vs negative system for me, but you try and tell most people that and they'll still think you're a crazed christian fanatic.

I hate liberals but I hate christian conservatives almost as much.

411314

Not every christian feels that way, or Bush would be a lot more popular (statistically, most Americans are christian). In fact, I think the ones who think that are in the minority.

411314

Most politicians are religious, or at least pretend to be. Statistics show that nonreligious people are distrusted in America. I have no problem with a politician being religious but I can't stand the religious right because it's a movement of bigoitry.

whatif?

I'd much rather have atheists in position of power than more "born again Bushes".

I'm a middle of the road, flexible sort of agnostic, but I'd err on the side of electing a person with a mind that works logically and based on facts. Giving a person whose logic is so twisted that facts and fantasy merge is dangerous! Plus, Bush sure hasn't demonstrated much moral strength. Quite the opposite, I think.

I hope events during the year+ since the last post on this thread have convinced people to distrust overly religious people more than they distrust minimally religious sorts..... Actually, I PRAY that people have come to their senses...

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BrotherBrian

Please don't make me post a list of people who will make your "Christians are illogical, and don't base important things on facts" argument look ridiculous.


Everyone wants a President who they believe is sorta like them in some basic ways, and the God" question is about as basic as it gets.
It's no surprise that the very religious want someone (as long as they're also otherwise qualified) who's also very religious, and that the opposite end of the spectrum want a guy/gal more like them.

As long as 75%--85% of Americans still identify themselves as "Christian" ( a ststistic I believe to be on the high side for sure) you're gonna have Christian Presidents.
Common sense.

NotConvinced

Well, if you take your quoted argument claim, and simply did some rewording:

"Christians have a tendency to be more illogical, and tend not to base important beliefs on facts."

I could win that argument, if I so chose, based purely on the average person, the average Christian, and what both do in average situations. You could post a list of people, sure, but logic tells us that it wouldn't do much to support your claim that the argument is ridiculous.

The argument as I requoted doesn't even need to be seen as insult at all, infact it would seem to highlight some of the finer points of what faith truly is. You could devote a whole sermon to supporting this argument, and end it with something like "and if being more illogical means...having higher morals and trying the follow the will of something greater than ourselves, then so be it...."

So no, Christians shouldn't be offended at all by the reworded argument.

No disagreements here.

Two things. One, I think your stat might be misleading, as a large number of those who would simply identify themselves as Christian do not hold the same doctrinal beliefs as one might think.

Two, if you asked someone "Hey, when do you think we'll have an atheist President in the US?" Then an enlightened individual would remind you that we've most likely had many, none of which highly profess it. Hell, I'm an agnostic atheist, and if I ran for President I'd say I was Christian, because I'd technically be telling the truth, and it'd be a big vote getter. It doesn't mean that "you're gonna have Christian Presidents," it just might mean that you're gonna have Presidents who tell you they're Christian.

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