Edwards said "God bless you." I want to hear what all the atheists here make of this.

Was he being sarcastic or otherwise an asshole about it?

I'm not an atheist, but public servants should stop using such terms imho. But I think it it's a minor faux-pas compared to the other fellows on the stage denying evolution.

I don't particularly care, unless he was executing a public office or acting in some official capacity. Edwards is free to believe in as many sky fairies as he likes.

No. He was talking to his followers in Iowa and thanking them for supporting him. You know, the place where the former Baptist preacher won his party's nomination by a virtual landslide.

All you atheists are fucked btw - there will never be an atheist liberal running for president in the forseeable future.

We all know of the Clinton's being sure a camera was pointed at them as they carry their 20 pound Bible to church.

Obama asked his followers during a speech to help him become an instrument of God and join him in "creating a Kingdom here on earth." Yes, Obama is a baptized Christian and goes to Trinity United Church of Christ.

Apparently the preacher who Obama says inspired him has himself said you can't truly understand God unless you're black.

So, geeez, who are you guys going to get behind? Not an open religious person who says Bible stories are his stories right? Is there an atheist party or something running a candidate you can get behind? Can an atheist vote with a clear conscience for someone who says its a mistake to fail to acknowledge the power of faith?

Is there an Atheist conservative?

And to which Atheists are you talking to? You seem to be pointing at some by using special examples.

On this forum? Maybe, but I don't want to speak for him. Lets see who answers. Running for president? No, not that I know of - and that's the point. You atheists are fucked. You'll never see a atheist candidate.

There is one pretty popular conservative who is also atheist but I can't remember the guy's name. He's a commentator and/or author.

In general, I'm sure there are plenty of atheist conservatives, tho nowhere near as many as on the left. They also are probably not as militant about it either. Liberal atheists usually come at you with some sort of victim mentality and that's not a conservative type of thing, so they probably aren't as vocal, and therefor not noticeable.

What with that "you atheists" while quoting me lol, I'm not an Atheist.

Well, usually conservatives are the ones crying out loud everything.

Help me, mexicans are everywhere!?
Help me, muslims are everywhere!?
Help me, blacks are everywhere!?
Anti-Abortion stuff
High taxation

And I'm pretty damn sure those waking you up on Saturday mornings with a bible in their hands aren't liberals but conservatives.

I had a different impression I thought he said "God bless you" to an atheist or something.If he wasn't being a jackass about it I don't see what the big deal is. Sometimes Christians like to say "well I'm praying for you anyway" and bullshit like that just to be jerks. Edwards just said "God bless you" apparently to noone in particular it's not that big of a deal. Even if it was to an atheist if it's said in good heart you can take it as nothing more than a kind jester.

Really, what I want to know now, is how all the atheists feel about having to vote for religious people to lead their country. Do any of the Euros have a atheist as president?

I didn't intend to imply you were an atheist. After I addressed your comments, I probably shifted to talking to the atheists.

What does any of that have to do with the topic of this thread? The "yeah, but, they do this" argument doesn't even work in elementry school, why do you guys keep trying to use it here?

I don't know, German politicians don't talk about their religious believes.

Almost no one does. It's a topic you don't talk about in the public and most of the time not even with your closest friends.

They can worship whoever they want when they're in private, as long as they don't start brabbling stuff like god is leading me infront of the whole nation.

They are employees of the public and not of god(s)

EDIT:

You started using those arguments...

And it's just my opinion that conservatives are the ones complaining all the time. You're a good example of that. "These damn liberals here, those damn liberals there"

Still on the "yeah, but, he does it too" argument? Elementry school stuff.

I have used no such arguments in this thread. This thread is about the fact that all the presidential candidates are theists - Christians even, and I want to know how atheists are able to reconcile or justify voting for them, or if they're going to find some 3rd party candidate with no chance of winning that is a atheist, so they can vote for them on principle.

That's what you wrote. Are you sure you're smoking tabacco and not asbestos?

Sure.

Conservatism has more than its fair share of biblethumping Christians, but Christianity isn't really integral to conservatism.As long as they don't take their religion with them into public office, I don't really care.

I meant in the field of candidates running for office.

Personally (though obviously I don't get an actual vote), it doesn't concern me that others have religious beliefs of one kind or another, it's their policies/actions that concern me - not their reasoning (or faith) behind those policies/actions. Also there is no reason for an Atheist to dismiss a bible story out of hand as meaningless. The bible can be interpreted as a book of interesting allegories and fables, which can contain much wisdom, without any need for them to have come from some god or other.

As for no openly Atheist candidates? Who cares? But, perhaps a big factor is people are astute enough to realise that with half or more of the population still claiming to be religious (even though most of them hypocritically never do anything vaguely resembling religiousness in their lives) it would be a hopeless cause to run for office on a 'platform' of religiousness. On the other hand an idiot like Bush can exploit people's faiths by claiming them as his own through professing his own faith.

I see.

In that case, no. To the best of my knowledge, there's only one atheistic Congressman (Peter Stark), and he only recently admitted it. And not during an election.

And for President? Absolutely not.

Can you re-write that. It doesn't really make sense as written. Is that what Obama is doing by saying he wants to be our instrument of God?