An Atheist as President of the United States?
Ron Reagan, Jr., son of the late former United States President Ronald Reagan, doesn't seem to think so. When asked in an interview with Larry King whether he would ever run for office, he stated: "No, I'm not really cut out to be a politician... I'm an atheist. So there you go right there. I can't be elected to anything because polls all say that people won't elect an atheist."
In an interview with the New York Times, Ron Reagan, Jr. expressed the same sentiment when asked whether he would like to be president of the United States: "I would be unelectable. I'm an atheist. As we all know, that is something people won't accept."
The terrible truth is that Ron Reagan, Jr. is absolutely correct. Americans will not elect an atheist who doesn't hide his beliefs. In fact, atheism carries such a stigma in the United States that most Americans will not even conceal the fact that they wouldn't vote for a candidate who declared he was an atheist. If an American stated outright that he or she would not vote for a candidate because the candidate was a woman, an African-American, or a Jew, that American would be criticized, ostracized, called a hateful bigot. But if that same American were to say that he or she would not vote for an atheist, there would be no such backlash. And sadder still, most Americans would agree.
The reason for this stigma may be ignorance. There are a number of myths associated with atheism and atheists that very few people in the public light have offered to debunk. Indeed, the very attempt to do so can destroy a political career. As always, I'd be interested in hearing your take in the Comments section below.
Will we ever see an atheist elected President of the United States? Why or why not?
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43 Comments
Post a CommentBe a non-believer if that is true for you. Tell it now. We as non-believers need your support. Come on out of that closet people!
Science vs Religion: Science flies us into space, religion flies us into buildings.
An atheist president would help America.
THA
Faith= the conscious attempt to deny facts... ej. "God lives in heaven"
never happen to much ignorance unless theres a massive education overhaul in which science math and history,THE TRUTH is important. This will be impossible theres still people whi deny evolution in a world like this it will never happen.
maybe if a massive event happens that kills like 5 million people of different religions people will make up and see no one is here to save you but i see slim chance of that happening p.s i am not saying that'd be good im saying that could wake up people
its not likely gonna happen anymore in my school there is a holy bible-the christen one- funny the law separation of church and state seems to be fading. (i consider school part of state ).
@DK Me too, except not for that reason.
The purpose of the president is to make decisions that are best for his people. Sometimes that does mean "following the herd".
IMO (s)he needs to be able to listen to the people, not some invisible man.
I woudl most ceritanly vote for an Atheist president. it shows out of the box thinking and shows that he/she is a leader who thinks for his/herself instead of following the herd.
To be honest I don't think a religious person is cut out to be a president. Any person stupid and narrow minded enough to believe in such bullshit, any person that lacks independence to the point where they have to worship an invisible man shouldn't run a country, end of discussion. An atheist president wouldn't have religion as an obstruction when it comes to making decisions, he could make decisions out of ethics, logics, and what's good for the country, instead of what a stupid book says.