Religious and Non-religious Presidents: Atheist Leaders

[Kofi]

I read an interesting article yesterday on a cnn blog page and in the article the writer made some initeresting points. According to the writer,an Atheist president or a non-religious leader would be far better than religious presidents, religious governors and other religious-political figures. According to the writer, we must separate religion from government, religion from politics, and religion from state but since it is very difficult for a religious president or a religious leader (like a governor) to separate religion from government, we must consider Atheist and non-religious leaders when it comes to these higher positions.

According to the writer, it is very difficult (almost impossible) for a religious leader to separate religion from politics therefore we must consider Atheist presidents and non-religious leaders when it comes to ruling a country like America. Although this sounds great, one silly question crossed my mind.

A president as we all know is the head of state (or states) of a country and it is the duty of a president to respect his or her country. It is the duty of a president to respect the national anthem, the national flag, the coat of arms, motto, national symbols, currencies,etc. of his or her country. In America for example, there is this motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" on almost every coin and on some paper notes I have seen. But as we all know, Atheists do not believe in God and Atheists do not trust in God so an Atheist president would find this motto meaningless.

A president "must" believe in the national anthem of his country. In my country, our national anthem begins with "God bless our homeland Ghana" but as we all know, Atheist do not believe in God so the beginning of this anthem may sound meaningless if not stupid to an Atheist president. An Atheist president will never believe in this anthem because an atheist person does not believe in God. The national Anthem of the Great Britain begins with "God save our gracious queen". The Canadian national anthem also has this line in it "God keep our land glorious and free". All these and many other national anthems have "God" in them but atheists presidents, atheist governors, etc. do not believe in God so they will not believe in such national anthems. If so then shouldn't religion be a requirement (when it comes to presidential candidates and other higher positions)? What do you think?

[Doug]

Quote: " a non-religious leader would be far better than religious presidents and leaders. So what do I think?

There is no doubt in my mind that the above is correct.

As far as the two pictures, which one is a lier? Falwell of course. This nation is not founded on any religion what so ever. It is founded on God. In God we trust is on our coins and paper money. Nowhere do we find ' In Religion we trust'.

God is not religion and religion is not God. When the two are considered one in the same there is nothing but confusion and misunderstand in the mind.

An Atheist president? An Atheist president of the United States? A joke, right?
An Atheist president? The beginning of the Un-United States of America!
Change the money to read - IN NOTHING WE TRUST

[Doug]

QUOTE: " it is very difficult (almost impossible) for a religious leader to separate religion from politics therefore we must consider Atheist presidents and non-religious leaders when it comes to ruling a country like America".

WOW! What a question you have proposed. What a provoker of deep thought this post stimulates. The above quote has three different types of people being considered for leadership of a country. Religious leaders, non religious leaders and Atheist leaders. Strange how men think. It is so very different than when this country of mine was formed. George Washington and most of the leaders at that time were not any of the three types mentioned in this article.

What were they and what motivated them? Guess.

Clue - Ecclesiates 12:13-14

Answer - gniraef doG

[Kofi]

After reading your reply I am beginning to get the picture. For example "This nation is not founded on any religion what so ever. It is founded on God". If we take this literally then this leaves the atheist group out remaining the religious and the non-religious groups.

I read the Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NIV) and it says,
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

A few days ago I read an article about Buddhism and according to that article there is no God in Buddhism. Which means there are some religious groups who don't believe in God. Buddhists are very religious but there is no personal God in Buddhism. Also most non-religious people do not fear God (a personal God) so "Fear God and Keep his commandments" do not favor the non-religious and the atheist groups. But I have heard that any person born in America in his or her sound mind can become an American president. In my opinion, the only way to include all these groups is to make the "God" in "In God we trust" some core principles, values, and ideologies rather than a personal God like the God in Christianity. So maybe the Founding Fathers of America used "God" to stand for these moral standards, core principles, values, and ideologies which makes America what it is and not a personal God like Allah nor the Christian God.

[Doug]

Kofi, you are so perceptive. God is SPIRIT! God is LOVE! God is MERCIFUL! God is FORGIVING! God is TRUE! God is RIGHTEOUS!

The words of God says to 'treat others as you would have them treat you'. Almost in every religion at it's beginning roots occures that phrase in some form or other. That is God. That is the Spirit of God. That is the purpose of man on this earth. That is love, that is mercy, that is forgiveness, that is true, that is righteous and many other attributes I have not time to mention.

Even Buddhism has this phrase in it's writings and there is where you will find God even in Buddhism. You will find this saying in some form even in your native African religions. Of course when religion progresses many other things infiltrate into it and it becomes like all religions wind up. A complete mess of true and false, good and evil bringing mankind into a bondage they cannot break away from.

So maybe the Founding Fathers of America used "God" to stand for these moral standards, core principles, values, and ideologies which makes America what it is and not a personal God like Allah nor the Christian God.

You are so right. The only word I would leave out in your statement is the word 'MAYBE'. If you will look up what most of the founding fathers of America were you will find they were Deist. They feared God, not religion. And that is the answer in my last post, 'fearing God' spelled backward, just to add a little fun to the question.

Our founders knew that if they could found a country based on the Spirit of God we could enjoy equality for all, for God is no respecter of persons. Liberty for all, for God does not put anyone in bondage. Justus for all, for God is Just. Do you now get the idea? Religion does the exact opposite. That is why coming out of the religious turmoil of Europe they seen fit to separate religion from government. Enough killing in the name of a religious god. Enough bondage in the name of a religious god. And on and on and on.

Yes they were God fearing men. They were not in any way religious men. They had experienced God's Law of Liberty and were delivered from the curse of the Law of Moses, the law of religion who's god was the devil says Jesus.

They were not afraid of religion but knew people for the most part could not be cured of it so they let everyone be bound to what they choose to be bound to. Not a bad idea, don't you think?????

[Kofi]

"They were not afraid of religion but knew people for the most part could not be cured of it so they let everyone be bound to what they choose to be bound to."
Not a bad idea at all. You cannot force someone to be religious and you cannot force anybody to fear God. In my country for example when it is time for elections you will see all politicians turn religious people so as to get the chance because in my country religion is almost a requirement and most politicians pretend to be religious just to win elections which is very bad.

[krashley]

I believe that the only difference between someone with faith and an atheist is the fact that someone with faith believes they have a purpose in life while the atheist doesn't. How can we possibly have a president believing that he and all of the people in our country have no purpose in life? What do they believe we're living for, and what is the purpose for doing anything if they believe that when we all die nothing happens, no heaven or hell? How can we put our government in the hands of someone that believes there's no true purpose in life?
A Christian president, yes, might mention God, but truly what is that hurting? Like you said, its on our money and in our anthems, so how could we have someone running our country that doesn't respect that.

this world would be a very prosperous place without religion. religion just fI*cks up the minds of people. kick religion out of the politics and kick it out of every home and let common sense reign.