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I come from the Great Lakes area and during elections I'm always rooting for Indiana to join the rest of us. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio all for a nice, consistent block. Then there's always Indiana.
You all should see how I'm attack and vilified by fundamentalists on this forum just for suggesting maybe there is more than one path.
There's a total of six states and I believe that Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee are three of them but I don't recall the others. The reason these laws are still on the books is because an atheist hasn't actually tried to run for public office in any of the states. If they did there's no doubt that these outdated laws would be overturned and I did read that Arkansas is considering removing their law from the books.
Snippet from :Discrimination against atheists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) officially include religious tests that would effectively prevent atheists from holding public office, and in some cases being a juror/witness, though these have not generally been enforced since the early nineteenth century.
Snippet from :Discrimination against atheists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) officially include religious tests that would effectively prevent atheists from holding public office, and in some cases being a juror/witness, though these have not generally been enforced since the early nineteenth century.
Maryland? Sheesh. I didn't know that. I can verify that they don't enforce it for jurors or even ask any questions about it, I have been a juror several times and was never asked a question about religion or the lack thereof.
Problem is, those laws are still on the books. Why are they even there? Because as atheists, we're considered second-class citizens, if citizens at all. Why don't believers see anything wrong with this? They would put up a stink all over the place if the reverse were true.
I read that Arkansas is in action to remove the law from their books
I imagine there are many stupid laws in every state that have been on the books for years and years that are not enforced, but they could be Until these old ,dumb laws are brought to the attention of the State, they will remain obscured and unused until someone needs one to get himself out of trouble or to get an elected official to step down....
There used to be an article years ago in the comic section of Sunday Papers called "There oughta be a law" that posted some of the funny , dumb laws that are still on the books of many States..making them still enforceable..
And yes, I do believe the law of forbidding Atheists from holding office is a violation of his rights..
Assuming that candidate admitted to it and didn't just play along and pretend (easy enough to do that basic sit in church for an hour mumbo jumbo) to appease voters and get the votes.
Its easy enough to be President without involving religion, so their Athiesm would really never need to come out. But once in office, they'd be there, so it wouldn't really matter either.
This coming from the guy who lives off the same road that has somewhere in the vicinity of 7 to 8 churches within the 4-5 mile drive to get to the interstate and is aptly named "Church Road."
I can see my name on those little election posters planted in people's yards, at each four-way stop sign, on telephone poles, and maybe even in some of the nicely manicured lawns of the giant Baptist church down the street. I could picture myself predicted for a landslide victory because the platform I'm running on is a strong one - I'm going to eliminate obesity in Mississippi.
Then, for whatever reason, my campaign manager decides to go Benedict Arnold on me and he lets slip to the local news media that I don't go to church and that I don't even believe in God. "In fact," he tells the media, "the guy is an Atheist."
Following that, I get this strange image of me sitting at home with my wife just getting ready for a relaxing evening and then the local news with its ridiculous background music comes on and says "BREAKING NEWS - LOCAL RISING POLITICAL STAR SAYS HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN GOD."
Then, I'll sit there with my wife as the news begins to crucify me (no pun intended). Before long, they'll begin linking me to the Satan-worshiping craze of the late 80's, they'll connect me, in some way, with the West Memphis Three murders that happened when I was about ten years old and then they'll talk about my hidden agenda to effectively enact new legal statutes against religion in the local area. Then they'll say that I declined an interview.
As I'm driving around town the next day, I find that all of my posters have been burned down, defaced, or just plain removed and tossed aside. My opponent has overturned my astounding lead in her favor under a different platform - fried chicken and grits in the cafeteria of every school student for a healthy, nutritious and filling meal.
Sadly, I can see that happening, GST. Personally, I'm lucky, because even though I'm an atheist, I'm also a Buddhist. Hearing that I'm a Buddhist generally causes fundie's eyes to kind of glaze over or slide away and a muttering of "Well, at least you follow a religion..." can sometimes be heard. Apparently, there's almost nobody in the US that realizes Buddhism and atheism aren't exclusive.
As for the question of "How long?", it'll be a long time, if ever. It is simply too easy for people to shut off their brains and let all their questions have easy answers supplied by religion. I did the same thing when I was a child. It's time to put away childish things.
Yes I do. Start with god being preached everywhere we go ......... our highways covered with signs.
The only thing that this means is that someone paid for a sign by the highway. And if you see alot of them, that means alot of people are paying for signs by highways.
So what's the problem?
In order to fix this, you have several options:
Outlaw freedom of speech, so that a religious person can't pay for a sign by a highway.
Outlaw freedom of religion, so there aren't religious people who pay for signs by highways.
(Regarding your other points about "money" and "government"... I agree that religion and government don't go together very well).
It is simply too easy for people to shut off their brains and let all their questions have easy answers supplied by ________
If this is really how you feel, then you should be thankful that you see signs by highways... for it means that we live in a land where people are free to express themselves, meaning they are not forced to shut their brain off and follow some fixed ideology.
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I didn't know that. I can verify that they don't enforce it for jurors or even ask any questions about it, I have been a juror several times and was never asked a question about religion or the lack thereof.
Until these old ,dumb laws are brought to the attention of the State, they will remain obscured and unused until someone needs one to get himself out of trouble or to get an elected official to step down....
