Why do I have to be religious to run for government?

Every candidate, whether it be for congress, senate, municipal or state, seems to be religious.

Every presidential candidate seems to be tied to christianity.

I have a very simple questions: Why must candidates be religious?
How does it make any difference? Why does it make a difference? How does being religious make you a better politician? All things aside, why do religious beleifs even play a part, and it does because you always see politicians mentioning it.

Am i not good enough becasue i am not religious. I know i am not good enough to begin with, but why should people judge me on that if i decide to run?

Are people who are just as good, if not better than other candidates at politics, at a disadvantage because they don't attend to a faith?

LuDaCrIs, it's okay

the problem is that there is covert bigotry against the non-religious

atheists are seen as having no morals, though morality existed before religion
agnostics are seen as being wishy-washy

and various other religions are weird and unfamiliar

but, it all boils down to bigotry against the non-religious

You don't have to be religious to run for office. You have to be religious to win Republican primaries, or if you're a Democrat, to contend for the votes of Christians who've had it with Republican policy and might be shopping for a new candidate.

Christian doctrine has it that the believers are separate from "the world". They are sent out as sheep among the wolves and all that jolly stuff. Holy or Sanctified translates basically to separate or segregated. Hardcore evangelicals segregate society from themselves. As such, they do not believe they can place trust in those not like themselves. To be Americans they must view it as a Christian nation, denying the Deist beliefs that several of our founders held, and use that as a basis for insisting that our leaders "continue" to be Christians. Some have gone as far as to say "whatever is Christian is legal, whatever is not Christian is not legal".

I do not know who originated this quote, but one that I like to toss at the X-cons (Christian Conservatives) I know is, "If you had to have brain surgery, would you choose the best brain surgeon or the most Christian one?"

The government knows the truth about religion and aliens. The government doesn't disclose either because they are tied into with each other in a conspiracy. The government is partly afraid of the aliens and that is why they are agreeing with them to not disclose them and in doing so will not disclose their agenda which does involve religion.
Now you could look at it the other way as I am not too ignorant and do. What if a religion is true and the aliens are part of its agenda instead? I have ruled that out from learning from the massive amount of information that indicates otherwise. And, even if no great information was available, well let me slow down here.....
These are very powerful words.....
You can quote me on this......
These are my words of wisdom:

"If the government knew that aliens were merely the evil side of a religion, then they would all just simply join God's side(good side) and not be afraid of disclosing the alien agenda at all."

Originally posted by The Vagabond
You don't have to be religious to run for office. You have to be religious to win Republican primaries, or if you're a Democrat, to contend for the votes of Christians who've had it with Republican policy and might be shopping for a new candidate.

I know I dont have to be religious to run, so i guess what I meant was, why do I have to be religiuos to WIN.

Does not being religiuos mean i am not trustworthy?
Does not being religiuos mean i am not good enough?

What does being a republican have to do with a faith?
What does being a democreat have to do with faith?

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
the problem is that there is covert bigotry against the non-religious

I disagree. It is not covert bigotry, it is up-front, in your face flagrant bigotry. And the bigotry extends beyond just being religous or not, one has to be the 'right' religion, ie preferably Protestant Christian. Catholics and Jews that are in politics are rare enough that it seems to be worthy of mentioning the fact that they are such. And our first-ever Muslim in politics (national, at least) has been asked to prove he is not an enemy combatant, for crying out loud.

There is certainly nothing wrong with being religous and in politics. The obtrusive use of religion to manipulate the vote sickens me, however.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
There is certainly nothing wrong with being religous and in politics. The obtrusive use of religion to manipulate the vote sickens me, however.

I don't think I could have summed it up better myself. Thanks Skeptic.

The thing I still don't understand is this: Would a religiuos person not vote for me, if I was a republican, because I am not religious? What If i agreed 100 percent with their political ideologies? Anti-abortion, less government intervention, anti-gay marriage, pro business, all that jazz. Would they have trust in me? Same thing goes for a democrat voter, because they could be religious as well
What if both candidates were not religious? would people not vote?

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
There is certainly nothing wrong with being religous and in politics. The obtrusive use of religion to manipulate the vote sickens me, however.

I don't think I could have summed it up better myself. Thanks Skeptic.

The thing I still don't understand is this: Would a religiuos person not vote for me, if I was a republican, because I am not religious? What If i agreed 100 percent with their political ideologies? Anti-abortion, less government intervention, anti-gay marriage, pro business, all that jazz. Would they have trust in me? Same thing goes for a democrat voter, because they could be religious as well
What if both candidates were not religious? would people not vote?

open, you're right about the bigotry
it is in your face
but much of it is simply a part of the general cultural mindset that people don't realize, therefore making it covert

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
but much of it is simply a part of the general cultural mindset that people don't realize, therefore making it covert

Good point... I hadn't thought of it in those terms...

Whence cometh religion?

About 10,000 years ago, religion was born in the Fertile Crescent, the land lying between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers down to the Nile River. Semi-nomadic people kept flocks of sheep or goats. As their animals slept, they sat in the open under the night skies and marveled at the grandiose display of Mother Nature. The cosmos. Shooting stars. Fixed stars. Constellations. The planets. Eclipses. Comets. As Samuel F. B. Morse tapped out millennia later, in their own way they asked “What Have God Wrought?” What did it all mean? Who were we that seem so insignificant in comparison? What is it all that seems so very far away? So incomprehensible?

The better story teller you were, the more people wanted to hear your stories. You cannot discount the opportunism that must have become apparent to some. The advantage that comes to a person who no longer has to tend the flock, but can make his contribution to the group by telling the better story. Not a bad job and with it comes honor and respect. And privilege. And wealth. And power.

In the last century we learned from Egyptologists all the antecedents of modern Christianity are found in the ancient religion of Osiris and Isis. Some OT passages were lifted straight out of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Egyptians were the first to codify the notion of life after death and they produced the greatest monuments to that ethereal concept the world has ever seen.

From my perspective, religion as a concept made its mistake early on, and which to this day makes religion unpopular with me. Religion or more particularly those who practice it at the highest levels, invariably claim special knowledge or revelation. To this end, religionists have asserted forcibly that they own or hold the key to all knowledge. Should you ever raise an issue which holds to a different point of view, or you find knowledge outside their limited and accepted range of knowledge, you can be and often were punished, up to and including death. Religionists have struggled against every free thinker since the Emperor Constantine founded Christianity in 325 CE.

The hotly challenged “separation of church and state” in America is a product of the 18th century Enlightenment. Whether we can keep it despite the tireless assault by religious authoritarians cloaked with the righteousness born of certainty remains uncertain. That’s my take on religion. Something for mankind to get over.


[edit on 12/3/2006 by donwhite]

Even though I am an atheist it appears that the founding fathers of our country were originally christan so they would want to uphold their christan beliefs. I do believe that aliens created the christan religion and chose the "christ" as their savior of light. The people who arent religious who run for government wont garner votes from the cristan societ.

Then again cristains are more and more looking up to their savior because of the war. So the government officials and or future government officials who run for office have to take into account the amount of cristains in the world.

That would mean that several cristians will get their vote. IT will not be slow, it will not be stead fast, it will not be medium, nor will it be fast, but if you are a cristain and if you are voting you would want the one who best represents cristians.

If you want someone religious who is not a cristain you should vote for the person who knows all three religions well. This one person who knows all three religions well probably has a really good understanding of religion.

That being said, religion plays a huge part in politics. If it didnt the world would be a better place, than, if religion didnt play a part in politics and if you werent religious if you ran for the government the great society of america probably would have not existed.

posted by Maverickhunter

Even though I am an atheist it appears the founding fathers of our country were originally Christan so they would want to uphold their Christan beliefs . . So the government officials and or future government officials who run for office have to take into account the amount of Christians in the world . . but if you are a Christan and if you are voting you would want the one who best represents Christianity. . . you should vote for the person who knows all three religions . . the one person who knows all three religions well probably has a good understanding of religion. That being said, religion plays a huge part in politics . . if you weren’t religious if you ran for the government the great society of America probably would have not existed. [Edited by Don W]

Not so. The Founding Fathers - FFs - practiced an entirely different kind of religion than what passes for Christianity today. Only one signer of the July 4 Declaration was a minister of the Gospel. John Witherspoon of New Jersey. OTOH, 13 were Masons. Back then, religion was corporate, today it is individualistic. You need a born again experience with Jesus. In the 18th century, it was more an ethical or moral kind of thing and much less interested in formal ritualistic practices. Today’s emphasis on personal salivation did not begin here until the Great Awakening of the 1820s.

I think 99% of the Founding Fathers believed the Story of Creation found in Genesis, but even before the Bill of Rights, the FFs did not want to make religion a test to hold public office. See US Con. Article VI, Sec. 3. “ . . and all executive and judicial officers . . shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this constitution, but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

If you want to know more about America and the prevailing attitudes towards religion in the last quarter of the 18th century, then you should first study English history beginning with the reign of King Henry VIII, 1509, and especially the reign of his daughter, the first Queen Elizabeth and ending with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and its aftermath, especially the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

England was ahead of the American Bill of Rights by about 100 years. Those over here who opposed our Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments - believed for the most part the 1689 Bill prevailed in all English colonies making another Bill redundant. It was part of the common law which every state adopted as the basis for its laws. Except Louisiana. It is part of the UK's "unwritten" constitution along with the Maga Carta of 1215 and other documents.

Out of this violent period of English history came Guy Fawkes Night, November 5, 1606, which we Protestants will always celebrate! As some Catholics celebrate 1572's St. Bartholomew Day. Oh, and no study of religion and government and how poorly the two mix, is complete without a reading of the treaty of the Peace of Westphalia which ended (on the continent) the 30 Years War, 1648, the last war of religion. Aside: Some historians call the period 1914-1945, the Second 30 Years War. FYI.

What did the FFs think about mixing religion and politics? Read the Preamble to our Constitution. “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Who does the “ordaining” of this document? The Pope? The local Archbishop? No, it is the people! Neither God nor his self-appointed servants are mentioned. The protection of God is neither requested nor invoked. America is a secular country. That should set this question straight.

Keep your religion personal and private. If you cannot, then stay out of government. And one more thing. Atheists I know tend to have higher ethical values than most Christians in public life. If you want to run for public office, you need to get a religion. I recommend a mainstream church, like Methodist, Episcopalian, or Congregationalist. Beware of non-affiliated churches . They are invariably a one man show. No accountability. No oversight. That’s why it is a one man show. Dangerous to the republic, too. T. James Kennedy. Robert Schuller. Oral Roberts Jr. James Dobson. Jerry Falwell. Etc.


[edit on 12/6/2006 by donwhite]

you cannot say this country was founded on christian principals, as don white has already shown

the USA was founded on the principles of John Locke and his philosophical thought on governments and their contracts with people