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Would you vote for a Muslim?
Might as well. No different than voting for a Christian, from where I'm sitting.
Doubt that will ever be a real possibility, though. Any more than I'm ever going to have the chance to vote for someone who is not a Christian or a Jew.
Ah, but in his case, they stem from his religious interpretations.
Doubtful.
Religion doesn't alter your personality, your personality alters religion.
Whoa! This is something that probably deserves it's own thread.
Religion doesn't alter your personality I disagree.
Your personality alters religion I agree.
Religion itself can't really alter anything. It just is a set of concepts/beliefs that one subscribes to or not. A person interprets the meanings of these concepts based on their inherent personality traits which exist independent of religion.
For example: A person who is stubborn and believes that anything that they feel is right and everyone else is wrong will be that way no matter what the specific thing they believe is.
In the described scenario, this is what we see. A guy who thinks his views are right and all others are wrong simply because he holds them. It wouldn't matter if he was an atheist, Taoist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or toilet worshiper. He's going to be a stubborn jackass in any scenario. The specifics are irrelevant.
The traits inherent in the person will dictate how they approach their religion. I can't even imagine a scenario where someone's personality is honestly altered because of the beliefs they hold, because to even begin holding the beliefs, there must be something within their personality that dictates it as a possibility.
For example: Someone joins one of those crazy Heaven's Gate type of cults. The cult doesn't change their personality. It is in fact their personality, specifically their suggestibility and a desire to feel like they belong to something "greater" than themselves that makes it possible for them to become a member. All subsequent actions are just facets of this pre-existing personality trait. There me an apparent shift in personality, but it's just an extant personality trait being thrust out front.
No religion can possibly cause someone to have a new personality trait that they never had prior to entering that religion. Not everyone has the same personality traits.
The proof of this is the cases where people are "born" into cults. They are taught the same things as everyone else, but they do what they can to leave at the first opportunity. This is because these people lack the personality traits necessary to fall into the cult's line of thinking.
The fact that I feel this way is the reason why religion means nothing in regards to my vote. If I hear that a politician is a practicing baptist I know nothing of them or their personality traits based on that alone. How they practice their religion may affect my vote. If they go around protesting soldiers funerals with "God hates fags" signs, they will lose my vote automatically. An Atheist who went to church gatherings with a "There is no God" sign would also lose my vote. To me, the atheist and the baptist would have the same personality traits that I abhor. Their religious affiliation does not dictate these behaviors.
I think what you're saying is that the trait was always there, even if it wasn't clearly revealed?
If so, that puts a different twist on it for me.
Don't get me wrong if you asked me in general would I vote for an Christian over an Atheist then I'd say certainly yes and I'd vote for an Anglican over any one else but when one looks at specific candidates there is a lot to influence one besides this. But still I'd love to see no Atheist or Agnostic British politicians.I've said before that the people on this forum have a higher IQ than the norm for our population. I think the replies on this particular thread show this, especially in light of the polls that state atheists are so mistrusted. Not one person so far has stated they would not vote for someone because they lacked a religion.
That's not to say there aren't those who admitted religion plays a role in their decision.
Maybe my assessment of another generation til we have an openly atheistic president is to conservative.
I know for me it means nothing. I would rather have a candidate that says he or she is an atheist then a believer. I know this is unlikely to happen in my lifetime here in the US.
I prefer honest athiests to those christians whose ethics are situational....
You'd vote for me?!?!?!??!
:aliens3::aliens2:
To what degree does religion affect the way you vote?
I know that this is a question that always comes up about candidates. I wonder how much religion influences you when you make your way to the polling place.
I know for me it means nothing. I would rather have a candidate that says he or she is an atheist then a believer. I know this is unlikely to happen in my lifetime here in the US.
To what degree does religion affect the way you vote?
That being said, I will never support an atheist.
Even if their atheism doesn't render their outlook on policy alien from your own?
That's just the thing: it does.
Atheists don't share a common understanding of the Natual Law premis because they reject the source of all rights. Since the source is rejected, the existance of the rights themselves falls into question.
The same conclusions can be reached through different methods.
The final results would be identical, but the methods are different.
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