Christians, would you vote for someone in election who is an atheist?

Question

suppose they were the best candidate?

wow. thats facinating. so theres mr. bush and an athiest that can and will make the neccesary changes needed to make your country a better place, you would vote for george bush?

Answer 1

Religion isn't (theoretically) relevant in American politics, so I would vote for the one who was the best candidate.

Edit:

Religion is a personal belief. Beliefs don't make someone better or worse than others, unless what they believe is destructive. I'm adding this edit to address some of the comments on this topic, stating that being a Christian makes you better.

If I ran for office on a platform that I would create jobs that paid a living wage, would find a way to help everyone in need, would lower health care costs by working with the insurance agencies to help lower their costs, and would beef up law enforcment so our cities were safe, would you vote for me? Now oretend I said "I'm an atheist", would that change your mind about me?

I also want to bring up a point. You don't hear about Atheists blowing things up for their lack of a god. You don't hear about Agnostics taking hostages to spread their word.

I'm just trying to show the other side of the coin out of fairness.

Answer 2

It would depend. Obviously, if they were the "best" candidate, I'd probably vote for him (or her), but best or worst isn't an objective determination. You might think they are the best, and someone else might have a different opinion.

If, for example, this atheist supported true freedom of religion, then I probably wouldn't have much problem with it. On the other hand, if the atheist took the position that many do - a fervent antagonism toward Christians - I might be worried about the direction he would take things.

I vote for many candidates who don't announce any strong beliefs and are probably agnostic or possibly even atheist. However, I'd be a little wary of someone who is campaigning AS an atheist, because it would lead me to believe that his agenda might be antagonistic.

Answer 3

Could I please clarify something here...did you and the others know that the amount of church-going christians that voted democratic actually doubled from the previous election (from 12% to mid 20% (sorry I don't have a citation for this)? A lot of Christians believe the Bible and pray, and we don't necessarily vote Republican because of their stance on certain issues, such as poverty initiatives and tax breaks.

So, I would have to look at the candidate's stance on issues very carefully. If an atheist ran and I felt that he was not out to blame Christians for the problems in society and erode Christian's rights (it is happening), then I would vote for him.

I do not vote for someone who just claims they are a Christian, unless I see that their words and deeds are Christ-like.

Answer 4

I'd rather vote for an athiest who knows what they're talking about and is a moral person... than a Christian who knows little about politics and is immoral. You know, like the ones who claim they're Christian but support war (thou shall not kill) or don't believe in Jesus's view on "turning the other cheek".

I don't care if you're Christian. But you can't choose which laws apply to who. And you don't get a free pass on being an asshole because you believe Jesus is on your side. You're an egotistic ***** and need to learn that being religious means modesty. Modesty and understanding is all that separates the Muslims from the Extremists... same with Christians.. and same with average athiests and they're hyppocritical counterparts.

Answer 5

As a catholic, it would be a non-issue. I can accept that Christians do not hold a monopoly on morality, i.e. simply because most true believers live what we would call moral lives, that in no way precludes a non-believer from doing the same.

In regards to the responses, I'm a little surprised, mostly because those candidates that trumpet their faith the most, seem to use it as a political tool, instead of their moral inspiration.
I don't believe for a moment that if Christ were amongst us today that gay marriage would be a priority for him. When we have such wide-spread global poverty (half the world's population living on less than $2 per day), I believe he would be fighting for the "least of us" as opposed to reinforcing and exploiting prejudices.
So, I think my question would be, to what extent are "Christian politicians" actually following the tenets of Jesus? I would argue they are lacking in this department.

Response to Creator=God(only):
An aetheist can absolutely believe in a creator, nature. Political philosophers break down civil society to the moment before humans became organized into civil groups. This is called the state of nature and the laws governing behavior within it (however articulated) are called natural law. I can't see any problem with an aetheist believing that natural law affords us "inalienable" rights. In fact, that is how I read creator, not as God.

Answer 6

No, because an atheist wouldn't agree with our Declaration of Independence, which states that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. If a president, or judge, or legislator doesn't believe that we get our rights from God, and that they are unalienable (no legitimate government can take them away), our rights are in danger.

Virtually every other constitution, (including the new Iraqi constitution) list the rights that the citizens of that country enjoy, and then follows with "except as provided by law". That means you have the law until we pass a law that says you don't. In the American system, our rights come from God, and government can't take them away. Could this be the real reason for the "separation of church and state", and government's increasing hostility toward religion?

Answer 7

I really don't see how a person's religion effects the way they govern our country. We have so many politicians that claim to be Christian that are so corrupt. I would vote for anyone who I think is the best candidate... no matter what their religion, or lack there of, is!

Answer 8

First of all, Bush is not really a Christian as he is only really using his religion as a reason for violence and that isn't really being a Christian. Second, yes I would vote for whoever is the best candidate no matter what religion they are or aren't.

Answer 9

Christians have already voted for atheists and more than once too.

Atheists do not have signs on their shirt or forehead or a bumper sticker. Most of them look like you.

Are you aware that there are people who were raised in Christian households, who go to church regularly but think the whole thing is a bunch of hokey crock?

Politicians like lawyers are the biggest bunch of fakers who pander to constituents with the largest numbers of people and/or money.

For example, recently there was a news item that Bush snickered about Christians behind their backs about how they voted for him but he did not take them seriously.

Answer 10

Wow. I'm really surprised by the responses. I thought religion didn't really matter if the person was getting the job done, but apparently, I've given some of the religious way too much credit.

I'm honestly really disappointed. And I was just starting to have a better view of many of the Christians on here.

I'm a firm believer in the separation of church and state, and I think people should separate themselves as much as possible from all personal biases before making any major decisions for everyone in the country.