On Fri, 25 Jul 2014 01:28:54 -0400, Warp wrote:

> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> Distrust of atheists is high enough that most people won't vote for a
>> politician who says they're an atheist.  Hell, Barney Frank - the first
>> openly gay US senator - came out as an atheist only *after* he retired.
>> It was safer (for his career) for him to be out as gay than out as an
>> atheist.
> 
> Something like 20 or 30 years ago it was basically a political suicide
> in the United States to openly declare your religion, because that would
> have driven away at least half of your voters.

Well, 20-30 years ago, basically, you couldn't say you were Catholic, 
because the problem there was not that the candidate isn't a "real" 
Christian, but rather the impression was that given a choice between 
deciding on a course of action that was good for the country or doing 
what the Pope said, it was assumed that the President would be answerable 
to the Pope, and that would make the US a de-facto subject of the Vatican.

> "Oh, he's a Catholic. Those aren't even real Christians! I'm certainly
> not voting for him!"
> 
> "Oh, he's a Pentecostal. Those are crazy cultists! I'm not voting for
> him!"

Protestantism would be the safest form of Christianity for a politician 
at those times, and it would just be assumed to be the case.

> "Oh, he's a Mormon..."
> 
> At some point this got changed and reverse. Nowadays it's a political
> suicide to *not* declare your religion. You can be even a Mormon and
> still have a good chance at precidency. 

Romney never really had a good chance at being the president.  That 
entire election was nothing more than a fiasco for the GOP.

> Even Christians who completely
> abhor mormonism (with its teachings about multiple gods, how people
> become gods, baptizing for the dead, temple rituals etc.) will actually
> try to find excuses and rationalize how it's not that bad. At least they
> believe in God... (or at least a slightly similar version of God than
> the more traditional one. Let's just pretend that mormonism doesn't
> teach that God has a wife etc...)

Well, there are a lot of things that didn't become an issue for the 
general public, partly because Romney wouldn't really talk about what he 
believes or what his church practices.  I may not have liked him as a 
candidate or as a person, but I can respect him for saying "that's not 
what this election is about" and refusing to talk about his faith.  If he 
had been elected, I actually think he would have not had his faith be 
front and center, because he didn't want it in the spotlight.  He 
considered it to be a very personal thing, and not relevant to his policy 
choices.

But there's still no way I would have voted for him.  But I do wish more 
candidates would say "you know what?  My beliefs are not your business, 
they're mine." - and then left it at that, and let their actions rather 
than their beliefs (or perceptions about their beliefs) be what they were 
judged on by the electorate.

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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