An atheist in Congress? Say it ain't so!Follow

Yes, but how many Wiccan congressmen are there?

I just wanted to post in Yan-yan's thread.

Hows that work again?

the fact that elected people in positions of power feel the need to pretend that they have an 'invisible friend' who watches over them, is almost as scary as people in positions of power who honestly believe that they have an invisible friend who watches over them.

Well. It doesn't help that athiests do seem hellbent (haha!) not just to politely disagree on issues of faith, but to force others to their own way of thinking. Calling anyone who believes in a deity an "idiot" is kinda just the tip of the iceberg.

Ever consider that athiests don't serve in high public offices because they are usually ********?

I have not once met an athiest who was not pretty overt about his disgust for anyone who believed in some sort of deity and who did not openly bash and denigrate those people (pretty much the exact way you have whenever the topic of religion comes up).

Obviously, I'm not going to know if someone who's a athiest doesn't do that, but that's part of the point. The only athiests most people are aware are athiests are the loud "religion is stupid and so is anyone who follows it" type. And that's why people don't like them.

Stop being overbearingly athiest and trying to convince everyone around you that religion is stupid and anyone who believes in it are morons, and you might just start seeing more athiests in higher public office.

Just a thought...

Obviously, I'm not going to know if someone who's a athiest doesn't do that, but that's part of the point. The only athiests most people are aware are athiests are the loud "religion is stupid and so is anyone who follows it" type. And that's why people don't like them.

Nah, I think most people are aware that most atheists are, like you, horribly patronizing to people of faith by pretending to respect their views, which in reality they transparently find to be false and silly. Feigned respect is 100 times worse than open disagreement and even ridicule.

Of course, you're likely not sophisticated enough socially to realize everyone is aware that you're full of ****, so I guess you should cling to that illusion and enjoy at as long as you can maintain the self denial.

I'm agnostic Smash. You do know the difference, right? I don't care if someone worships God, Buddha, or Vishnu, or nothing at all. Simply doesn't matter to me. I'll defend someone's right to practice their religion right alongside someone else's right not to.

Athiests specifically believe uncatagorically that there is no God, no divine power in the universe, and every single person who believes so is therefore wrong.


They are totally different positions on the issue. And it's part of why atheists are not liked very much. Because, by definition they are *not* ok with any religion or belief. They are specifically opposed to *all* religious beliefs.

What do you *think* will happen to an elected official with the official position that anyone who worships any sort of deity is misguided when 80% of the people voting worship some form of deity. It's not rocket science Smash...

Lol. Yeah... Um. Hrrmmm...


They are not largely the same. They are radically different. I honestly don't know or care if God (or any other deity or force or whatever) exists or not. You do. Hence why you feel obligated to state your disdain towards "an invisible man in the clouds" at every opportunity, while I do not.


It's do find it interesting the almost desperate manner in which you believe that everyone who is agnostic is really an athiest afraid to speak his mind. It highlights the disgust and hatred you have towards religion and those who practice it. So much so that you assume that anyone who does not loudly speak out against it is either brainwashed into believing it or cowed into silence.



Heh. I'll also point out that your comment kinda destroys your whole "Athiests aren't out to destroy religion" argument. You're basically saying that every athiest should speak out against religion, but some don't, not because they're ok with religion but because they are afraid of it...

But you don't see why people of faith might see that as a threat to their religious freedoms. Strange.

Religion /Is To/Spirituality
..As Prostitution /Is To /Lovemaking
Alot of the elements are the same (Ritual?) but the feelins are not always the same for all participants.
When discussions of atheism just acknowledge organized religion you are kinda stuck on the "ground floor" of the human spiritual debate (IMO).
Some (alot) of people have spiritual beliefs based on Personal Experience,to have these denigrated or de-valued, naturally causes a backlash.

Anyone else notice how some belief systems are judged more "cool" than others ? Anyone remember Carlos Castaneda ?...Don Miguel Ruiz maybe Or Namaste?
Or "Dances With Wolves" even lol.

Or the Martial based spiritual disciplines ? Think Bruce Lee was cool ? do a search on Mas Oyama !! This guy had the "Hand of God" did 200 man Kumite & killed bulls in H2H combat! amazing what people can do when they "Believe" in something.
Well thanks for stoppin by ! the journey aint over til its over....as far as we know ^^

Some (alot) of people have spiritual beliefs based on Personal Experience,to have these denigrated or de-valued, naturally causes a backlash.

They're also idiots.

Not my fault.

Because some of them might blow up our buildings! Allah Ackbar!!

Gbaji, you clearly do not understand what atheism is, or who atheists are. The fact of the matter is that unless you ask an atheist what they do or do not believe, you don't know.

As far as the atheists that you've run across being pricks: guess what, being an atheist doesn't limit someone from being a jackass any more than being a christian, jew, or muslim does. I'm glad that you recognize that you wouldn't know someone is an atheist unless they are the jerk-variety, but that is exactly the point of the OP; that most atheists do not bring their religion or lack thereof into the public forum because there is still a huge social stigma attached to it, and it could harm their attempts to further their career.

And why would they be harmed? Because the majority of this country is christian, and see us as misguided, foolish, immoral, or whatever, and believe it or not, they do discriminate against us. There is a severe lack of respect for our right NOT to believe. The first President Bush said that atheists weren't really Americans. I've spent the greater amount of my life keeping quiet about being an atheist because even as a kid I knew that saying what I believe would shut doors in my face. So things like the Pledge of Allegiance, I would say the pre-1954 version. If I was in a public forum and there was an organized prayer, I would just remain respectfully quiet.

I don't denigrate believers, because I believe in their right to believe what they want. However, that does not mean I have to AGREE with their beliefs any more than I expect them to agree with mine. In a forum like this where such ideas are discussed, yes, I state my positions just as fervently as they state theirs. I am not an *** for doing so. However, I think there is a NEED for at least a few outspoken atheists to remind the public that most of us are quietly here trying to live in "the land of the free" where we'll be discriminated against if we simply say who we are.