Why aren't atheists suitable for public office?

Question

You could look up discriminatory laws targeting atheists on Wikipedia. There are several.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_of_atheists

Answer 1

How do you know that there are no Atheists in office now?
Who is to say what is really in a Man's heart

Answer 2

For one thing there aren't that many true atheists. Agnostics, maybe, but very few true atheists.
A holder of a public office must have your best interest at heart and determine which laws would be enacted to best serve the masses.
An atheist if nothing else, is going to be more self serving than most believers of a higher power. Selfishness is the main course of the day for an atheist.
This is not to say that an atheist couldn't serve others in a public office, but I doubt that his/her idealogy would could stand while being a true public servant. To subordinate oneself to the public at large would be a monumental task without asking for help from a power greater than oneself.

Answer 3

As is the case with many questions beginning with "why," yours is an informal logical error. You assume that what you are asking about , that "atheists" are not "suitable for public office," is true. You have presented no evidence to suggest that is the case. Before beginning to ask "why," you want to determine whether your assumption has any validity.

Answer 4

Definitely- some people (for there own selfish purposes) want to have someone in office who "thinks"like they do-and you know some of these politicians don't believe in God they just say it because they know they will get elected if they do say it- I personally don't care what a politician believes in -If they are a good representative that is open minded and can think for themselves then I may vote for them..

Answer 5

Solely based on the answers given here I’d say that atheists are too arrogant to get elected. They believe their IQs are too high, they’re too sensible, too far above us poor pathetic losers. I wouldn’t vote for anybody with that attitude.

Really. What else am I to conclude from reading these answers?

Answer 6

I find it hard to follow someone who has no moral base other than human. Those Ideas are killing us as we speak! What do they base the laws put in place today for everyone? Why should I, or you. have to go along with a rule if it doesn't go along with our thinking? If there is no base, there is no future!

Answer 7

We are way too rational for most people to even begin to deal with. The believers would freak out when they found out that skeptics can run a democracy better, more efficient, and a whole lot more morally than they ever could.

Answer 8

Curious that Abraham Lincoln, an atheist, was elected president. I guess those were in less dogma-plagued times.

Answer 9

Hmm. I really can't figure out how someone's belief or lack thereof would have any affect on their performance as a public official.

Answer 10

Who says they're not? If anything, they are likely to be more practical than someone who believes in Divine Intervention as a possible problem solving strategy.