If you are like most people, you picked the homosexual one, but let us know below! As James Joyner writes:
A recent Gallup poll
reveals that Americans are much more likely to elect a black man or a
woman president than a Mormon or an old man. More interestingly, they’d
rather be governed by a homosexual than an atheist
I continue to be surprised at how anti-atheist Americans are. It makes me laugh (in an ironic way) because so many people aren’t actively religious, and if people went around preaching, they’d annoy a good many people – probably more than those that are anit-atheist!
The good news is that things are looking good for women and blacks. See all the data here:
Yes, would
vote forNo, would not
vote for%
%
Catholic
95
4
Black
94
5
Jewish
92
7
A woman
88
11
Hispanic
87
12
Mormon
72
24
Married for the third time
67
30
72 years of age
57
42
A homosexual
55
43
An atheist
45
53
What do you think? Who would you vote for? Or not vote for?
I think one reason that the notion of an atheist President is unattractive to some people is because — whether they are service goers or not — the idea of God provides them with their conception of right and wrong, good and evil. The President will be faced with such questions on a monumental scale that will affect everyone. If he or she has no conception of God or a higher power, many wonder just where will he or she turn for guidance.
Another reason may be that many people’s exposure to atheists and atheism is unpleasant given how many atheists look down on and attack belief in God or a higher power. Many online atheist websites and blogs, for example, regularly characterize Christianity or faith as a mental disease or defect, something no reasonable person could believe in, something that is the cause of much of the world’s evil. Religion to them is just a virus of the mind (or “meme”) propagating itself among the gullible. Another example would be books like Richard Dawkin’s The God Delusion, whose title apparently captures the tone of his reaction to theistic belief. As a result of this, theists may ask, “If so many (and so prominent) atheists think that theists — the vast majority of the population — are mentally defective and clueless and delusional, why should I elect one as President and trust him or her with protecting my values and way of life?”
Of course there are nice atheists who are good people and can respect the beliefs of others, but they are not the most vocal and the rest of have given atheism a bad name.
Chris,
That’s a really good point – when atheists are vocal they generally sound condescending.
Stormy