Ah, there's the rub. Even those avowed "humanists" who founded our country and then became president still openly attended Christian churches because that was what the vast majority of the populous was.
i'm afraid i must admit i have a bit of a knee-jerk response and don't like it when people bring Christianity into what I expect to be a non-religious setting. I don't have that reaction when i see some bit of a non-Christian religion peeking into a non-religious setting (like when a Jewish friend points out he or she can't eat certain things together), and i really shouldn't discriminate like that, because it's really not fair. i try to ignore that voice, though, because quite honestly, some of the basic bits of Christianity aren't that different from any other religious or spiritual view, and like you said, what the reverend prayed for is fairly universal and generic. i guess i'm more ok with it because in high school i used to sing religious music, but i sang it because it was beautiful, and forgave that it was religious because we tried to bring in different cultural pieces as well. but... it's hard to ignore that indignant athiestic (anti-christian?) voice in my head sometimes.
Marie and I sang all the Ave Marias and such in High School as well. It helped that most of them were in latin so we could ignore what the words meant; but still...
The Democrats saw what it did for the Republicans to start appealing to the religious folks - increase their support. Also, the Dems have been getting a lot of pressure from the religious among them to be more open about their faith, should they happen to have one (and let's be honest, in this country, most people claim a faith, if not Christianity, then one of the other major religions; whether for personal faith or the fact that it automatically gains them a community, no one else can ever really know).
Can an "avowed" atheist hold a public office? Yes, one "can". Will one? Highly unlikely because the majority of voters is not atheist, and in a democratic society, majority generally wins, whether we like it or not.
Not in Texas. Texas requires you to believe in a supreme being to hold office.
Texas' Bill of Rights Section 4: "RELIGIOUS TESTS: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."
Well, it's sort of holding office
anonymous
November 9 2006, 05:32:22 UTC
It may not be a terribly high public office, but I was elected by my neighbors to the Board of Directors for my civic association (kind of like a town council since we're not incorporated as a city), and I'm pretty open about my self-identification as a Secular Humanist. I've even written letters to the editor of our neighborhood newspaper pointing out when atheists are getting the short end of the stick in certain local affairs, and while I'm sure there are one or two people in the neighborhood that would like to burn my letters, I somehow keep getting re-elected to the civic association's Board.
So, yes, I do think that avowed atheists can hold public office in this country. It's just an uphill battle against prejudice and ignorance to win the trust of those whom the office in question ultimately serves.
Comments 6
Reply
Reply
Reply
The Democrats saw what it did for the Republicans to start appealing to the religious folks - increase their support. Also, the Dems have been getting a lot of pressure from the religious among them to be more open about their faith, should they happen to have one (and let's be honest, in this country, most people claim a faith, if not Christianity, then one of the other major religions; whether for personal faith or the fact that it automatically gains them a community, no one else can ever really know).
Can an "avowed" atheist hold a public office? Yes, one "can". Will one? Highly unlikely because the majority of voters is not atheist, and in a democratic society, majority generally wins, whether we like it or not.
Reply
Texas' Bill of Rights Section 4:
"RELIGIOUS TESTS: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."
There are a bunch more at http://www.religioustolerance.org/texas.htm
I think someone has defined Secular Humanism (my brand of beliefs) as a religion too for some court case which annoyed me.
Reply
So, yes, I do think that avowed atheists can hold public office in this country. It's just an uphill battle against prejudice and ignorance to win the trust of those whom the office in question ultimately serves.
-JenBo
Reply
Leave a comment