Will Americans ever elect an “atheist” president ?

[Jennifer RachaelAnn]

It's obvious to me that no one here has ever heard of the Puritans. First European people to officially colonize this side of the Atlantic. They had their issues, but there was one thing they did that most have heard of. In a town called Salem Massachusetts they had a problem. It later came known to be the Salem witch trials. People accused of non-xtian thinking were executed. They then forced xtianity on the natives. A few years after that, the American revolution. The constitution is nothing but glorified toilet paper. Maybe it meant something in 1776, but it means nothing now. If this country was truly not founded on the bible, then "In god we trust" would not be on money. It's a xtian view 100%.

Also tell me why the 10 commandments are on display in almost every courthouse. Why are there pictures and statues of jesus in so many government buildings?

And as for Bernie....did he get the democrat nomination or did Hilary?

Anyone who says this country wasn't founded on the bible, is living a lie.

[Tessa James]

It's obvious to me that no one here has ever heard of the Puritans. First European people to officially colonize this side of the Atlantic. They had their issues, but there was one thing they did that most have heard of. In a town called Salem Massachusetts they had a problem. It later came known to be the Salem witch trials. People accused of non-xtian thinking were executed. They then forced xtianity on the natives. A few years after that, the American revolution. The constitution is nothing but glorified toilet paper. Maybe it meant something in 1776, but it means nothing now. If this country was truly not founded on the bible, then "In god we trust" would not be on money. It's a xtian view 100%.

Also tell me why the 10 commandments are on display in almost every courthouse. Why are there pictures and statues of jesus in so many government buildings?

And as for Bernie....did he get the democrat nomination or did Hilary?

Anyone who says this country wasn't founded on the bible, is living a lie.

An interesting if inaccurate position to take about the founding of the USA and to what end my friend?  Today we heard the news that someone just took a vehicle and destroyed the 10 commandment plaque recently erected somewhere in the bible belt.  So what?  Religious righteousness is obviously pernicious and problematic.  BTW the nonsense phrase about "trust" on your money came about in the 1950s in some measure as a response to the "godless" communists.  There are volumes written about the founding of the USA and the more secular nature of those founders and their intentions.  Lies and the truth are best revealed by using scientific research and methods.  Opinions, well don't we have a few?

[AnneK]

Also tell me why the 10 commandments are on display in almost every courthouse. Why are there pictures and statues of jesus in so many government buildings?

And as for Bernie....did he get the democrat nomination or did Hilary?

Anyone who says this country wasn't founded on the bible, is living a lie.

I don't think I've ever seen a picture or statute of Jesus in any public buildings, other than the Catholic schools we have here.

As for Bernie, your question was:

How many Muslim senators can you name? What about Jewish congressmen? Any Pagan governors? If you can name even one, I would be willing to bet they weren't able to finish their first term in office, not because of the way they ran their politics, but because of their religion.

Bernie Sanders has been a senator since 2007.  That's 10 years.  He had also been a congressman for 16 years and a mayor for 8 years.  Seems to me he's finished at least one term in all that time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders

[AnneK]

BTW the nonsense phrase about "trust" on your money came about in the 1950s in some measure as a response to the "godless" communists.

I believe the link I provided earlier shows it first appeared in 1863, IIRC.

[itsApril]

It's obvious to me that no one here has ever heard of the Puritans. . . . The constitution is nothing but glorified toilet paper. Maybe it meant something in 1776, but it means nothing now. . . . Also tell me why the 10 commandments are on display in almost every courthouse. Why are there pictures and statues of jesus in so many government buildings?

* * *

Anyone who says this country wasn't founded on the bible, is living a lie.

Yeah, actually we've all heard of the Puritans.  In fact, we've all met a few Puritans in our lives.

The Constitution means a lot to me.  As imperfect as it has always been (and remains), it's a positive general framework that's important.  In every generation, the Constitution has been attacked or subverted by forces in society who would like to reorganize the world according to an authoritarian (or oligarchic or theocratic) model.  So each generation has to decide whether the Constitution is meaningful and should be defended.  My answer is yes.  So I'll defend it to the maximum of my ability.

I'll also point out that if you give up the Constitution, it won't be long before you have those Puritans you're concerned about at your throat or burning you at the stake.

There aren't Ten Commandments monuments in American courthouses.  In Alabama a few years ago, the Bible-thumping Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court installed a Ten Commandments monument in the Court.  It was removed from the Courthouse by order of a federal judge (citing the First Amendment to the Constitution, by the way!) and the Chief Justice of the Alabama Court was removed from office for resisting the federal order.

I've never seen a picture of Jesus in a public building.

Cut us some slack here, Jennifer RachaelAnn!  We're your allies here on this thread, not your adversaries.  We're not living a lie.  (By the way, that's the same accusation a former friend made to me about being trans . . .)

[Jennifer RachaelAnn]

The ten commandments are posted behind the judges chair in the county courthouse here where I live this very second. And just past the metal detectors, there is a picture of christ hanging up for all to see. Living in the bible belt sucks. I don't know what it's like for everyone else, but the first amendment has a different meaning here. You are free to choose your religion....as long as you're xtian. You can be catholic, methodist, baptist, pentecostal, lutheran, or non denominational as long as you worship christ. As for anything else.....flat out not welcome.

We have the national backbone of the last 240 years to thank for that one.


I'll cut people some slack when they stop going out of their way to tell me I'm wrong.

[AnneK]

Living in the bible belt sucks.

I occasionally hear in the news about some town, judge, etc. that runs afoul the constitution and law about keeping religion out of government.  I'm afraid Trump will only make this situation, like so many others, worse.

[Deborah]

I live in the Bible Belt too and in our courthouse there is no Ten Commandments nor is there any pictures of Jesus.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[Jennifer RachaelAnn]

I live in the Bible Belt too and in our courthouse there is no Ten Commandments nor is there any pictures of Jesus.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

Lucky you.

[itsApril]

I live in the Bible Belt too and in our courthouse there is no Ten Commandments nor is there any pictures of Jesus.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

I've just been reading an article in the current issue of The New Yorker (7/10/2017, "The Future is Texas") by Lawrence Wright.  It's a long article about the weird cast of political characters in Texas state politics.  These days, of course, it's practically a requirement to be a Bible-thumping Republican Christian to hold state office in Texas.  But it wasn't always so.

The last Democratic governor of Texas was Ann Richards in the early 90s.  Richards was a take-no-prisoners feminist and supporter of the separation of church and state.  One Christmas during her term of office, some state legislators set up a Nativity scene in the Texas State Capitol.  The ACLU sued on First Amendment grounds and the federal judge ordered the display removed.  A journalist asked Richards if she was going to obey the court order.

Richards answered that the state would obey the order and remove the display.  She added that it was a shame in a way, though, "because it's about the only time we ever had three wise men in the capitol."

[DawnOday]

 Actually, America was started by the First Nations who believed God was embodied by animals and Spirits. If you feel you need to have a white guy good. That would be  Leif Erickson. Erickson did not establish a colony because of all the natives. My relatives came in 1635 not because of religious freedom but rather as an indentured survent seeking opportunity.