Congressman says he doesn't believe in God

[Cowperson]

Secular groups Monday applauded a public acknowledgment by Rep. Pete Stark that he does not believe in a supreme being, making the Fremont Democrat the first member of Congress — and the highest-ranking elected official in the U.S. — to publicly acknowledge not believing in God.

A USA Today/Gallup poll last month found that 45% of respondents said they would vote for a "well qualified" presidential candidate who was an atheist. Ninety-five percent said they would vote for a Catholic candidate, 92% a Jewish candidate and 72% a Mormon candidate.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...iewed-homepage

Cowperson

[mykalberta]

Good for him.

Congratulations in believing our life is only secular in nature.

I disagree but congratulations none the less.

MYK

[Cain]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Good for him.

Congratulations in believing our life is only secular in nature.

I disagree but congratulations none the less.

MYK

I'm not sure if you meant to come off as sarcastic, but it seems a bit to me...in which case, I do actually think it is a big risk he just took, and he should be applauded for it...It could be political suicide the way things are in the states.

Doesn't matter whether you or I agree with his views, he just admitted something that is looked poorly upon by many, while being in a position only because of those same people voting for him. Pretty gutsy in my opinion. The fact that some people vote for others to represent them based only on religious views is actually very scary.

[Flames0910]

uhh...Didn't he just kill his political career?

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Cain

I'm not sure if you meant to come off as sarcastic, but it seems a bit to me...in which case, I do actually think it is a big risk he just took, and he should be applauded for it...It could be political suicide the way things are in the states.

Doesn't matter whether you or I agree with his views, he just admitted something that is looked poorly upon by many, while being in a position only because of those same people voting for him. Pretty gutsy in my opinion. The fact that some people vote for others to represent them based only on religious views is actually very scary.

To be fair, it's a lot less dangerous for a democrat to make this kind of statement then you'd suggest. Republicans tend to be the churchy types, so for a republican to make this statement could very well be political suicide (especially in the south). But for a democrat it could very well boost his popularity depending on where he is representing.

As for people voting for people based on their religious views, why is that so scary? All it says to me is that to those people the social aspect of government policy is more important than the fiscal.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

The response to this will show how close the US is to a democratic theocracy...not to far I wager

The fact that the guy is an athiest isn't news but the fact that it is an enormous gamble to admit to it publicly is the real news story...

...it reminds me of people in the US wondering if they are ready for a black/woman president...the fact that they are even contemplating their readiness shows an awful lot

[Knut]

I think the fact that people have to "come out" and admit to being athiest is a problem.

The United States has become the Christian state to rival the Jewish Israel and the multiple Muslim states. Bound to happen i quess.

Quite Amazing really that humans are letting Church and State join together again.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cain

The fact that some people vote for others to represent them based only on religious views is actually very scary.

Agreed. Further to that, there are people who vote based on single issues as well. Some of those issues are frankly irrelevant when measured in the current political situation which makes it even worse.

There are a ton of people who vote only for pro-life or pro-choice candidates. Talk about scary.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Hesla

I think the fact that people have to "come out" and admit to being athiest is a problem.

The United States has become the Christian state to rival the Jewish Israel and the multiple Muslim states. Bound to happen i quess.

Quite Amazing really that humans are letting Church and State join together again.

That's a ridiculous exaggeration.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

As for people voting for people based on their religious views, why is that so scary? All it says to me is that to those people the social aspect of government policy is more important than the fiscal.

Well some may say that, but others may be both fiscally and socially conservative. Or the reverse - socially conservative and fiscally liberal for lack of better words.

To me it just states that they have a philosophy that they are applying to all life aspects - in this case politics (I'm not really religious by the way). Its interesting, anyways. They have a religious ideology and align it up with someone/a party that they think best represents that in a political way.

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Agreed. Further to that, there are people who vote based on single issues as well. Some of those issues are frankly irrelevant when measured in the current political situation which makes it even worse.

There are a ton of people who vote only for pro-life or pro-choice candidates. Talk about scary.

Yah, the proverbial "informed voter" is a challenge. My mother-in-law is like that - she votes always for one party because of their particular (or likely anyways) viewpoint on an issue (abortion). That party could do a lot of descrution (I'm talking hypothetically here) to the country, but she would probably still vote for them based on that issue. Its interesting, because to her that is a pretty high issue - so where parties/candidates stand on that will make a big difference in her decision on who to vote for etc.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

That's a ridiculous exaggeration.

I agree...church and state were never really seperated in the first place

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

I agree...church and state were never really seperated in the first place

Yeah, sure.

We have a national denomination and everyone must attend church.

Our schools are all parochial.

Other than ceremonial,and meanignless outside of tradition, references to God there is nothing there.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

Yah, the proverbial "informed voter" is a challenge. My mother-in-law is like that - she votes always for one party because of their particular (or likely anyways) viewpoint on an issue (abortion). That party could do a lot of descrution (I'm talking hypothetically here) to the country, but she would probably still vote for them based on that issue. Its interesting, because to her that is a pretty high issue - so where parties/candidates stand on that will make a big difference in her decision on who to vote for etc.

Exactly...and I would argue that in this day and age abortion stance is irrelevant. It's not something that is going to change on a National level no matter how much the activists want it to.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Exactly...and I would argue that in this day and age abortion stance is irrelevant. It's not something that is going to change on a National level no matter how much the activists want it to.

Well, on an ideological/belief system, I would say its nowhere near irrelevant. A lot of people cling to it. On a practical level, its still quite of interest. Not to derail this thread to abortion (and to Canada as well), but: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/backgrounders/access.htm . (scroll down to about the middle - where it starts with 2 provinces). Not sure of the US practicalities, because I don't live there.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

Well, on an ideological/belief system, I would say its nowhere near irrelevant. A lot of people cling to it. On a practical level, its still quite of interest. Not to derail this thread to abortion (and to Canada as well), but: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/backgrounders/access.htm . (scroll down to about the middle - where it starts with 2 provinces). Not sure of the US practicalities, because I don't live there.

Certainly not irrelvant ideologically (is anything?). But politically speaking it is not an issue that is going to be at or anywhere near the forefront of the political process anytime soon.

I live in a hotbed for abortion protest. The pro-lifers want it outlawed. What would have to happen to get there? Way more than would justify voting on a single issue.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Yeah, sure.

We have a national denomination and everyone must attend church.

Our schools are all parochial.

Other than ceremonial,and meanignless outside of tradition, references to God there is nothing there.

We obviously live in different regions of the country. Religion has a very strong influence on many things here in the south. They don't ask you if you go to church here, they ask you which church you go to. If you say none, it makes them uncomfortable.

Most of the decent schools in the south are run by churches. There are public schools, but since the vast majority of the people in power send their kids to private religious schools, not a lot of attention is paid to them and it shows.

The white Babtists here all vote for Republican, and all think Bush has not done a thing wrong.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Yeah, sure.

We have a national denomination and everyone must attend church.

Our schools are all parochial.

Other than ceremonial,and meanignless outside of tradition, references to God there is nothing there.

Well I was half-joking...but was reffering to the unwritten undertone in the US about the importance of being religious and how it does affect their policy (domestic and foreign). I think the impact of the Bible and its fanbase are more meaningfully intertwined with the US government/military state than you suggest...and it is getting more intertwined as time goes on...a symptom of this was the scandal at the air force academy...an isolated incident? Maybe...but I don't see the US moving away from this mindset in certain areas...

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

We obviously live in different regions of the country. Religion has a very strong influence on many things here in the south. They don't ask you if you go to church here, they ask you which church you go to. If you say none, it makes them uncomfortable.

Most of the decent schools in the south are run by churches. There are public schools, but since the vast majority of the people in power send their kids to private religious schools, not a lot of attention is paid to them and it shows.

The white Babtists here all vote for Republican, and all think Bush has not done a thing wrong.

Hmmm.

Compare that to the poll numbers and I think you'll see that your 'all' equates to about 30%.

BTW...there is nothing wrong with private schools. They're not government funded.

I'm pretty sure there are catholic schools in secular Canada too.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Hmmm.

Compare that to the poll numbers and I think you'll see that your 'all' equates to about 30%.

BTW...there is nothing wrong with private schools. They're not government funded.

I'm pretty sure there are catholic schools in secular Canada too.

What's the 30% you refer to? Show me any poll where somewhere less than 90% of southern white babtists don't unconditionally support the republican party?

There is something wrong when public schools are neglected to the point they aren't even a safe place to send your child, leaving church run private schools as the only option.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

What's the 30% you refer to? Show me any poll where somewhere less than 90% of southern white babtists don't unconditionally support the republican party?

There is something wrong when public schools are neglected to the point they aren't even a safe place to send your child, leaving church run private schools as the only option.

What percent of Americans are southern white baptists?

Won't disagree the education system is a joke. But the fact that private schools, some of them run by churches, are able to provide good educations for some isn't relevant to the seperation of church and state.