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badstarThe only way to truly believe in the equality of all people is to believe in God.
An atheist doesn't follow the command of some book, therefore cannot have any basis for believing in human equality. Because it's just not possible to have such a belief without being commanded by some supposedly omnipotent supernatural dude in the sky.
Emphasis and whitespacing mine.
This post is not quite coming out of the blue.
Some of Gil Smart’s columns have nearly prompted me to write this and now a response on TalkBack to one of my recent posts here has pushed me to do it.
I would not vote for a candidate for governor or president, and probably not Congress or the state Legislature either, who does not believe in God.
Would I press a candidate for the state House or state Senate on the point? Probably not but an espoused atheist or agnostic would probably have no hope of getting my vote.
Is this because I want a theocracy? No.
Is this because I believe non-believers can’t be moral, ethical people? No. (From all that I have heard about him and what I have witnessed in my limited dealings with him, I believe Gil Smart, for instance, is a wholly decent fellow — moral, ethical and all the rest.)
The reason I want a God-believing candidate for executive office goes back to the belief at the core of this nation’s founding: “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights …”
I would submit that this belief is key to the humility I’d like to see in elected officials, particularly presidents and governors, because they wield much of the life-and-death power of the state.
And I would suggest that a belief in God is the only way to believe in equality of human beings.
Let’s face it: Some people are smarter, better-looking and more physically capable than others. We can even objectively measure some of these things with IQ tests, physical fitness tests and games played by the rules.
The only logic that makes human equality work is a God-based logic that goes something like this: We are all created in God’s image and the differences in ability, beauty and intelligence between us are stunningly insignificant when compared to the gap between all of humanity and God.
And, so if God tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves (in effect, to acknowledge them equal rights), then we have no business doing otherwise.
I do not see on what basis an atheist believes in human equality and the granting of equal rights that flows from that.
Now, has every president who believed in God acted in a way that made his belief in God evident at all times? No, but at least a belief in God offers a chance for the humility I want in every president when making important decisions for our nation.
Ronald Reagan, who I believe exhibited humility, said it best:
We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.
Amen.
http://blogs.lancasteronline.com/alwaysright/2008/06/03/why-my-candidate-must-believe
(For anyone who may wonder, Gil Smart is a columnist for the Lancaster newspapers, whose website on which this blog post appears. Gil isn't so popular with the more conservative set. Don't actually know if he's atheist as insinuated in this post though I could swear I've seen writings of his before that mentioned going to church and/or believing in God. Not sure anymore though, and I don't really care if he's atheist or not.)
An atheist doesn't follow the command of some book, therefore cannot have any basis for believing in human equality. Because it's just not possible to have such a belief without being commanded by some supposedly omnipotent supernatural dude in the sky.
Emphasis and whitespacing mine.
This post is not quite coming out of the blue.
Some of Gil Smart’s columns have nearly prompted me to write this and now a response on TalkBack to one of my recent posts here has pushed me to do it.
I would not vote for a candidate for governor or president, and probably not Congress or the state Legislature either, who does not believe in God.
Would I press a candidate for the state House or state Senate on the point? Probably not but an espoused atheist or agnostic would probably have no hope of getting my vote.
Is this because I want a theocracy? No.
Is this because I believe non-believers can’t be moral, ethical people? No. (From all that I have heard about him and what I have witnessed in my limited dealings with him, I believe Gil Smart, for instance, is a wholly decent fellow — moral, ethical and all the rest.)
The reason I want a God-believing candidate for executive office goes back to the belief at the core of this nation’s founding: “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights …”
I would submit that this belief is key to the humility I’d like to see in elected officials, particularly presidents and governors, because they wield much of the life-and-death power of the state.
And I would suggest that a belief in God is the only way to believe in equality of human beings.
Let’s face it: Some people are smarter, better-looking and more physically capable than others. We can even objectively measure some of these things with IQ tests, physical fitness tests and games played by the rules.
The only logic that makes human equality work is a God-based logic that goes something like this: We are all created in God’s image and the differences in ability, beauty and intelligence between us are stunningly insignificant when compared to the gap between all of humanity and God.
And, so if God tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves (in effect, to acknowledge them equal rights), then we have no business doing otherwise.
I do not see on what basis an atheist believes in human equality and the granting of equal rights that flows from that.
Now, has every president who believed in God acted in a way that made his belief in God evident at all times? No, but at least a belief in God offers a chance for the humility I want in every president when making important decisions for our nation.
Ronald Reagan, who I believe exhibited humility, said it best:
We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.
Amen.
http://blogs.lancasteronline.com/alwaysright/2008/06/03/why-my-candidate-must-believe
(For anyone who may wonder, Gil Smart is a columnist for the Lancaster newspapers, whose website on which this blog post appears. Gil isn't so popular with the more conservative set. Don't actually know if he's atheist as insinuated in this post though I could swear I've seen writings of his before that mentioned going to church and/or believing in God. Not sure anymore though, and I don't really care if he's atheist or not.)
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Hi, Choir? This is Preaching.
Date: 2008-06-04 01:30 am (UTC)This is bullshit. This is on par with Ben Stein's heavy-handed suggestion in his movie "Expelled" that atheism leads to genocide.
I think what this blogger is doing is confusing nihilism with atheism. Atheism, of course, is merely the assertion that there are no gods. I'm a Zen Buddhist, and I'm quite the atheist, and I believe that equality is extremely important! So there's that.
Nihilists aren't necessarily all that bad, either, and I think anyone who's reasonably compassionate and has their head well clear of their asshole can see that treating people as equals makes life easier.
Where is the inherent embrace of inequality in an assertion like "there are no gods"?
I just don't get it.
Re: Hi, Choir? This is Preaching.
Date: 2008-06-04 01:37 am (UTC)Re: Hi, Choir? This is Preaching.
Date: 2008-06-04 01:52 am (UTC)[or did you mean the person asserting this thing about atheism?]
no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 02:06 am (UTC)Doesn't the Bible declare several times that women are highly inferior to men? Didn't Christianity operate on that basis for a very long time? Don't some Christian sects still believe that now? Ans this is just one example that comes right immediately to mind, give me a hour and I'm sure I can come up with plenty more.
What basis would a non Christian have to believe in equality? How about the basis that we're all the same species? Surely we don't need a two thousand year old book to tell us that? We all have certain things that we're good at, and we all should give other people the same chance in life that we all want for ourselves.
This is just like the same brand of bullshit that states only Christians are capable of being good, moral people. That always makes me just want to punch someone in the face (and since I'm not Christian, I guess I would be allowed). Ridiculous shit, pisses me off.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-04 03:46 pm (UTC)It's easy to make an argument from ignorance ("I do not see on what basis an atheist believes in human equality and the granting of equal rights that flows from that"). Just because you don't see it doesn't mean the basis isn't there. Ugh! Maybe it's just a cry for help.
Thanks for this, miss Fuego, I've got a mission now.
*starts writing an earnest letter*