Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Is America Ready For An Atheist President?

I found this article by Pew Research Center to be very interesting because despite the separation of church and state, the American public seems to care very much about the religious affiliation of our politicians. My question to all of you: Do you think America would be ready to vote for an openly atheist presidential candidate?
----

"Almost all U.S. presidents, including Trump, have been Christians

by David Masci
The U.S. Constitution famously prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office. Still, almost all of the nation’s presidents have been Christians and many have been Episcopalians or Presbyterians, with most of the rest belonging to other prominent Protestant denominations.
The nation’s new president, Donald Trump, certainly fits this pattern. Trump is the nation’s ninth chief executive to be affiliated with a Presbyterian church. Presbyterianism has its roots in England and Scotland and has been active in North America since the 17th century. 
Even though he no longer regularly attends a Presbyterian church, Trump was raised a Presbyterian and still considers himself one, saying “my religion is a wonderful religion.” (As a young man in New York, he began attending Marble Collegiate Church, a Dutch Reformed congregation, and in recent years, he has been associated with Paula White, an evangelical megachurch pastor who will pray at his inauguration.)
The first Presbyterian to occupy the White House was Andrew Jackson and the last, before Trump, was Ronald Reagan. Both Jackson and Reagan had Scots-Irish ancestry. Trump’s mother immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that many Americans care about their leaders’ faith. For instance, half of all American adults say it’s important for a president to share their religious beliefs. And more people now say there is “too little” religious discussion by their political leaders (40%) than say there is “too much” (27%)..." (continued).

4 comments:

  1. https://news.gallup.com/poll/254120/less-half-vote-socialist-president.aspx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very interesting! It seems that the willingness people have to vote for various groups is changing. I am pleased to see that in 2019, roughly 60% would be willing to vote for an atheist. Thanks for sharing.

      Delete
  2. Nope! Although I think the closest we got recently was Obama, particularly in light of his friendliness with atheists: "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers," was a line from his 1st inaugural address that encouraged a lot of secularists out there who so often feel excluded from political--especially presidential--rhetoric.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do Deists count? Jefferson told his nephew to question all things, "even if there is a god..." But he'd probably have a hard time getting elected today.

    Also, Honest Abe - though not a self-avowed atheist - comes across as a lot more secular than is popularly understood, in "Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life" by Adam Gopnik...

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6071984-angels-and-ages

    ReplyDelete