I am a Secular Humanist (Athesist) but really didn't come out of the closet until I retired at age 56 I found it easier to go along to get along rather than share my non belief with family and friends. I would bow my head when grace or prayers were said but avoided attending any church or church related activities as much as possible. To Thine Own Self Be True I said to myself when I retired and ceased going along to get along. Although I believe in complete separation of Church & State I am not militant nor do I seek to convert anyone to my non belief. I find the current crop of political candidates who spout their faith to woo voters offensive. Even the most liberal politician that dared to express their non belief would have little or no chance of ever being elected, and that's a pity, because I am sure there must be highly qualified non-believers.
I think they fudge the truth a little anyway, I'm willing to bet Trump isn't all that religious. Although I'm not an atheist, I'm not religious at all. I may believe in A Supreme being and I'll always have catholic blood flowing through my veins, that won't change. If I was to become religious again it would only be as a Catholic. I don't like it when people constantly talk about their religion like it's the only right one, it's not. Mine is just as right as theirs. I believe in evolution and can't base anything on the words of the bible. There is more proof of evolution than there is of the bible being the word of God. That is pretty much a fact. I feel we need some form of religion growing up to guide us on a moral path but as an adult it's only there for comfort in my opinion, In my opinion there is no hell or devil and that is only used to put fear in the minds of people who are gullible. If only those that were religious would just be happy and keep it to themselves it would be a better world in my opinion. It just turns people off even more. It's fine to talk about it in this section but when it's starts spilling over into other topics it gets to be too much. I don't mind how religious anybody is, it doesn't bother me one bit. But when you start insinuating that your belief is the only one that's not right or the case.
Well, good for you, Ren. I didn't think being an Atheist was such a big deal. I don't want to mix religion and politics..so I don't care if the person running is "religious" or not. I don't like or dislike people based on whether they are religious. I don't think most people care what religion a candidate happens to be.
I disagree Karen. I think that if any candidate said that they did not believe at least in a so called SUPREME BEING, they wouldn't stand a chance of winning an election. We total Non Believers are a distinct minority.
I don't think so, Ren. I never look at the religion of a candidate. I could care less. That goes for non religion too.
Ok Ren I guess we'll wait for a person with no religious affiliation to be elected..lol. I personally agree with Chrissie that Trump isn't religious at all...I don't care what he says...lol
You missed the real point of my post -----If any politician said publicly that they did not believe in God or a SUPREME BEING, I doubt they would ever be elected.
Ren, I do think I realized what you were saying and responded to it...I will say it again then, respectfully..I don't agree with you.
Maybe in the USA but other countries aren't as religious as we are. It doesn't bother me at all if you are religious or an atheist. Whatever you are is fine...just don't keep telling me is all I ask.
Welcome to the Forum Ren and thank you for sharing here. I'm sorry you felt you had to wait until you were 56 years old to be your true self. As a child we often do have to go along with what others believe since we don't know enough to form our own opinions about most things...when we become adults and have enough knowledge under our belts we then get to form our own beliefs and opinions and become our own person. I'm just sorry you felt you had to wait until you were 56 years old before you felt you could finally be yourself. As a Christian I also believe in separation of Church and State. I don't want the Government telling me I have to believe anything...much less choosing my beliefs for me. And on the other hand I don't want any Church telling me what I have to believe either. I believe in God and His Word through the Bible not because anyone made me, or told me I had to...but because after reading the Bible for myself and asking God to reveal Himself to me....He did just that and He has proved His Word is True to me also. God is a part of every area of my life so it is very natural for me to talk about Him and would in fact be unnatural for me not to just to make others who don't believe comfortable. I think we should all get to be our true selves...no matter who or what that may be. Don't you? Respect works best when it is given both ways. Although I don't think our President would necessarily have to be of a particular denomination, I do think he would have to be honest, trustworthy, and a defender of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And since our Nation is a Nation that was founded on a belief in God....I definitely would want him or her to be a person who believes in that God that our Nation was founded on too. I'm glad to meet you Ren and look forward to chatting with you on other posts.
Hi Ren. I applaud you for speaking your truth. I can't speak for other nations, but here in Canada we don't require our politicians to be religious. This is a secular, multicultural country. We judge our leaders by their policies.
The UK is a lot less religious than the USA in my opinion, our government is a mixture, though Cameron did say a while back that the UK was a Christian country, in my opinion this was more a political statement than the truth. Statistics are always confusing this is an extract from here In the UK, the percentage of the population which describes itself as belonging to no religion has risen from 31.4% to 50.6% between 1983 and 2013 according to the British Social Attitudes Survey’s 31st report issued in 2014. Conversely, the report found that only 41.7% of people in the UK identify as Christians compared to 49.9% in 2008 and 65.2% in 1983. The Church of England has seen the greatest decline in its numbers; membership has more than halved from 40.3% of the population in 1983 to just 16.3% in 2014.
The US doesn't require our politicians to be religious either. Those candidates who choose to be believers are either truthful about their faith (whatever that faith may be) or they are swayed to lie about being Christian because they know, as Ren is saying, there is a large segment of the voters who are Christian with certain Christian values and morals driving their choices and some candidates will do anything to lock those votes in. As an aside, it's fair to note that some of those "Christian" voters are not really Christians either. God says, "they say Lord, Lord, and I know them not". He's not fooled. In the big picture, truth is all that really matters.
Politicians seem to see the need - or perhaps their advisers do - to spout stuff they think the public wants or expects to hear. Often, this approach just makes them look hypocritical or plain stupid. Take Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" nonsense. Surely it wasn't just me that thought, "Well, why did you smoke a joint if you weren't going to inhale?"