Only Atheists Should Hold Public Office?

http://news.yahoo.com/only-atheists-hold-public-office-235400792.html

Only Atheists Should Hold Public Office

By Andrew Riggio | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 47 mins ago

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COMMENTARY | Religion plays a big role in politics. Noted polling organization Pew Research just published a report detailing which candidate people are likely to vote for based on religion. A USA Today report suggests Rick Santorum's popularity in South Carolina has been significantly increased by his religious positions on issues and support of the evangelical Christian movement. That's all a shame because America would be better off if only atheists were allowed to hold public office.

Let me start by saying such an arrangement would actually protect Christians. Leaders who are influenced by religious belief often act in ways that support that religion -- sometimes to the detriment of other faiths. While Christianity may hold sway now in the U.S. other religions might someday enjoy a political majority. If that day comes Christians who have advocated for religious leadership will have no defense against the wishes of officeholders from other religions.

Of greater importance, however, is the danger of religious leadership. Theocratic nations restrict freedom and place adherence to religious dogma ahead of real-world issues and common sense. A horrifying example is the practice under Sharia law of punishing rape victims with death for sexual immorality. This even happens in nations where Sharia is not officially used, such as Bangladesh, where a 14-year-old girl was raped by a relative and killed by punitive whipping, according to UPI.

Christian dogma is equally violent. The Bible calls for death as punishment for talking back to parents, breaking the Sabbath, wearing clothes of multiple fabrics, and failing to scream loudly enough when being raped, among many other offenses listed by the Skeptics Annotated Bible. If Christian religious dogma is taken seriously by leaders it could lead to terror and death.

Adherence to religious dogma also distracts from pressing, real-world issues. The Bible calls poverty a holy thing. Mother Teresa called abortion "the greatest destroyer of peace today" in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech according to the Nobel site. Religious dogma makes adherents want to limit others' rights, dictate social ethics, yet ignore problems like poverty.

Atheist leadership would be focused entirely on the actual civic problems facing the country. It may be the only world view that places real world problems first and America needs that. end quote.

I completely disagree with this article. Though Christianity likely eventually will not be the majority religion in the U.S. I consider Atheism a religion just like I consider Science a Religion. So, even though a person might wander through Atheism, Science, various cults or religions or philosophies or methods throughout their lives. Whatever combination of ideas that they are supporting or not supporting at any given point they should be allowed to. So, excluding all religious people from holding public office of ANY religion is just as stupid as saying ONLY ATHEISTS should hold public office. What if I said to you, "ONly Scientists should hold public office." Or "Only Lawyers should hold public office." Or 'Only people without a college education should hold public office." Or "Only Carpenters should hold public office." Whenever you limit people holding office to one specified group of people you create instability long term in that nation. Cronyism is the only result of limiting who can hold office to any one group. For example, it is quickly becoming in the U.S. "If you aren't worth over 1 million dollars you can't hold public office." And that is just as bad as only atheists can hold public office in the long term damaging effects to our democracy.