DNC depresses me, party diversity doesn't include atheists

[usregimechange]

It couldn't as it would be political suicide but I was just thinking of how great it would be to actually be respected in a mainstream way. Shit, to even be considered a minority. Than at least a few people would understand what it is like and I wouldn't have to sit at a computer terminal to actually find nontheists to talk with.

Our family is a fragile one constantly under siege by threats of hellfire and mythical monsters better suited for a child’s storybook than adult cognition and dialogue. Both the dark ages and the civil rights movement are with us today. They never ended.

[BayouBengal07]

1. Agreed.

Its tough being tucked away to pander to an increasingly fundamentalist America.

[slutticus]

2. Yeah....

...too bad Ron Jr. is not a member of the party.

But don't worry. There are more of us than you think! :)

[K-W]

3. And we dont even get respect as an oppressed minority.

We are looked at as sub-human, lacking true human faith.

[usregimechange]

5. True, a quote for this occasion, cheers.

“Discrimination against nonbelievers is the last civil rights struggle in which blatant discrimination is viewed as acceptable behavior.” ~Herb Silverman

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Ditto. Unbeliever here.

Well, at least we got some recognition of the divisive use of faith by El Shrubbo and the GOP.. Several speeches have mentioned it.

[DrWeird]

6. Yeah, it's too bad.

But good thing since I'm an atheist I'm not all hung up about religion and take it like some kind of oppressed martyr, or anything.

[Borgnine]

7. I'm not an atheist...

...but I agree. I got sick and tired of every speaker tonight ending with "God bless you" or "God bless America."

[usregimechange]

9. and...

You know, I don't say the pledge and our rising star from IL said that everyone says it. Guess, I am somewhere on the outside of everyone. And this is MY party! :-(

[Longhorn]

32. I'm an atheist and I say the pledge.

I just ignore the words, "under god." If more and more of us do that, then it is more obvious that those words are being ignored than if people don't say the pledge at all.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

40. I stopped saying 'under God' in elementary school

it is easy enough to say the pledge and just skip those two words. I never thought is was such a big deal.

[pbg]

10. Damn straight!

They should say "Gesundheit!" instead!
:-)

[usregimechange]

11. I just want them to acknowledge that I exist and the other 25 mil nt

[Chovexani]

45. See, I just giggle when I hear "God Bless America"

My brain always fills in the line from Head of State, "...and NO ONE ELSE."

Really, I don't give a shit. It's sad if they're just pandering, but if they honestly believe that, I'm not losing sleep over it. I've got my Gods and they have theirs. Some have none. What's the big deal? :shrug:

[LiberalVoice]

8. Don't worry...Our numbers grow as common sense becomes more prevalent.

My mother found out I was an atheist. It hurt her alot. It's hard for me too. I feel like I've dissapointed her in some way. In some ways I suppose I have but I still feel guilty. It's hard to find solice without a mythical being to rest your shoulder on. Must be why religion is so popular.

[lazarus]

12. It's coming

I'm torn about Obama's claim that we worship god, etc.

He doesn't speak for me.

But, on the other hand, we do need to take religion back from the right, since the vast majority of the country at least pretends to care about religion.

It's coming, though. My daughter has recently declared herself atheist (at the age of 12!) and is a good liberal.

Atheism is spreading as reason and rational thought spread. Ron Reagan is quite likely the most famous outspoken atheist in America today, and he spoke at the convention.

A change is gonna come...

[Longhorn]

34. He made several generalizations that were meant to describe

some people in the party, not all, in my opinion. For example, he said, "We play Little League in the blue states" -- obviously, not everyone plays Little League. Republicans try to paint the Democratic Party as godless and while some of us are, the majority are not.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. Someone yesterday included agnostics

in a list of people whose beliefs should respected.

[JI7]

15. Kerry mentioned agnostics in some of the speeches i heard

when he started talking about religious tolerance.

[usregimechange]

16. Ok, I do exist now. Thank you! Know where and when? nt

[Feanorcurufinwe]

20. Oh, I think JI7 is right it is a Kerry speech I'm thinking of.

Maybe the 'Front-Porch' event from Sunday in Ohio...

[incapsulated]

26. That was it

I saw it on C-span.

I'm not an atheist but I wish that there would be more inclusive comments like he made there, at the convention. Especially when there is such emphasis on faith and prayer and all that stuff. *sigh*

[Tatiana]

14. Well, Ron Reagan spoke at the convention.

And he's very much an atheist.

[usregimechange]

17. He did but didn't mention it. Didn't say it like this:

I am a proud African American.

[AP]

25. Read between the lines. What was he talking about?

Isn't the point of atheism that you don't celebrate it? I mean, to go around refering to yourself in terms of whether there is or isn't a god would sort of undermine what it's all about.

In that sense, Ron Reagan was a screaming atheist tonight.

[w13rd0]

18. Didn't Ron Reagan speak this evening?

And hey, we're in the USA, you have to wave the flag and a cross to get to elected office...

[RodneyCK2]

19. One of the reporters on PBS said...

that this was one of the more scripted Democratic conventions, ever. Basically, everything is being toned down from speeches to confiscating homemade signs. Their goal in this convention is to attract the key States and as such, this orchestrated event leaves little room for outside distractions, such as atheists. LOL.

[fujiyama]

21. I'm athiest/agnostic as well

and while I do wish that politicians in the US would address the fact that athiests do exist (I remember Tony Blair, whom I've lost a lot of respect for, atleast address non believers in a speech once), it's simply different in the US.

In Canada and most of Europe, there isn't as much talk of God by politicians.

I am glad though that all the democrats I've seen have made it inclusive though. Unlike republicans, who will bring up the Christian God and Jesus, there isn't any religious bias of that sort.

My guess though is that atleast from the NE and probably other areas as well, many at the convention aren't religious. Exit polls should voters that attended religious services were much more likely to vote republican (no surprise).

I don't mind politicians bringing up God in an abstract sense, as long as it's not like Lieberman who openly said, "there's only freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM relgion". What a turn off. It pissed a lot of Jews off as well.

[tommilator]

27. Atheist Europe

fujiyama said:
"In Canada and most of Europe, there isn't as much talk of God by politicians."

No that would almost be political suicide. Even 'Christian Democratic' parties rarely use the word. Too many fundamentalist atheist around who'll tear you apart if you inject God into public discourse.

[drdigi420]

39. good

[Endangered Specie]

42. I remember a reverend last night..

mentioning the "religious and the secular" as people (he listed all the usual others) that Bush is trying to divide.

[nightperson]

22. There are more of us than you probably think,

and reality is on our side!

1
2
3

An impressed (Daily) Kos, on a Howard Dean speech:

"But the most amazing part was the finale, with a fiery Dean pounding the podium:

I want my country back!

I don't want to listen to fundamentalist preachers anymore!

When Dean uttered this last line, the whole place went nuts. Utter pandemonium. It was literally one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen."

[sofa king]

23. It doesn't bother me too much.

For my part, I appreciate the DNC's implicit tolerance of my atheism.

I'm perfectly happy with tolerance over inclusion because I don't want to be included with followers of conventional religions. The fact of the matter is that I'm a pretty damned intolerant person when it comes to religion, and I'm kind of embarassed about that.

But perversely, somehow that tightens my alignment with the DNC. I'm willing to put up with even the most puerile sky pixie bullshit, and in return I am assured that they will put up with my jejune, arrogant hubris. So long as we don't harm one another, we can be the best of friends.

But it's my best friends who piss me off the worst.

[AP]

24. Ron Reagan is an atheist and he got a headline slot.

And talked about not letting religion govern policy.

[PurityOfEssence]

28. One thing at a time

It's the most dangerous bugaboo since the dawn of civilization, but religion is to entrenched right now to fight in other than holding actions and probing attacks. We HAVE to win this election.

Lament with you as I do, it's still the case, but if we can stave off the creeping theocracy in this country, we might be able to contain the problem within our lifetimes. People will always believe, and far too many dominant religions are aggressive and exclusive. The belief is not the problem, the proselytizing and thirst for dominance or exclusivity is.

Hang on; they're doing the right thing.

[Kinkistyle]

29. The closest to an atheist president we had was our 3rd and 16th

Well over 100 and 200 years ago. We seem to be moving backwards on the religion platform. :(

[LoZoccolo]

30. I haven't seen a single Italian up there yet.

But I could care less. :+

[emulatorloo]

31. As long as DNC is not spouting Fundy talk and Policies I am HAPPY HAPPY

HAPPY!

Because, really, that's what you have to worry about. . .there is plenty of tolerance of beliefs in the Democratic Party. . .

[Scagbearer]

33. I agree

[Gothic Sponge]

35. Agnostic here, and i agree.

If we each had a dollar every time a speaker said god bless.....

[Longhorn]

36. I don't take "god bless America" literally any more.

To me, it's similar to when most people say, "Merry Christmas." Most aren't even thinking about Christ -- they're just wishing others a happy holiday season.

That said, I completely agree with all that you said -- except it doesn't bother me any more. If we can bring ourselves to watch any of the Republican convention, I think we'll come away feeling a LOT more accepted by our party, don't you think? :toast:

[Ravenseye]

37. My Mother In Law says I have no Morality

ok not really. She did though. We were having a discussion, and she's totally a Fox Happy Conservative. It's frustrating talking to her sometimes, because if I disagree with something she says, I can even have the specific dates and times of articles, reports, or whatnot to prove her wrong, and she'll shrug it off. Primarily because Bill or Sean or whoever said the opposite.

Anyway she was talking about the fact that people that don't have religion in their life don't have any basis for morality. I asked her if she thought I was an immoral person, and what I did to make her think that. I never had religion. The first time I went to ANY church was when I was 8 years old and was staying with friends when my parents went on vacation. I've been to church (not counting weddings) less than 20 times in my whole life.

She agreed that I had morals and you could tell she got confused. What she was being force fed was obviously wrong from her own personal experience. It was the only real time I ever got through to her on a political/religious/hottopic issue.

You don't need God to be moral or ethical. You don't need Religion to know what's right. You don't need to go to Church every week to be a good person. Whether you're athiest, agnostic, lapsed, or just plain outside the discussion...you don't need it. The continuing pandering to the fundamentalist christians in this country is just astonishing to me. I respect people's religion, as long as they respect when other people DON'T need it.

[drdigi420]

38. It sucks to be a realist in a mythical society

I feel your pain

[John_H]

41. and where the fuck is the restless leg plank!!!! It's discrimination!!!

[ASanders84]

43. It would be nice but

today athiesm would be political suicide. When the country was young, Presidents like Jefferson and Lincoln were professed athiest when communication lagged. Today, the Republicans and the religious right would have their way with that and just say "How can you elect a God hater" or something like that.

By the way, I'm athiest/agnostic.

[Cheswick2.0]

47. They were not atheists

Good grief were do you get this nonsense?
Lincoln was a deist, Jefferson didn't know what he was because he kept changing his mind. At one point he was a Church elder. For every quote you can produce that showed his disdain for organized religion I can post one which states the opposite point of view.

[Cheswick2.0]

44. Well your post certainly wasn't very inclusive

"threats of hellfire and mythical monsters better suited for a child’s storybook than adult cognition and dialogue."

When I was a kid I was taught that if you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend. It works for adults too. As a Christian I don't feel exactly warm and fuzzy about you either.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

46. I like you both just fine

that's why I like a great big wall between church and state..so both of you can have your religious beliefs or lack thereof... :D

[Cheswick2.0]

48. Hi, I like you too

And I give money to organizations promoting the separation of church and state. :hi:

[Ladyhawk]

49. I totally agree.

During the last peace vigil I attended, a nutcase fundy came up and assured us that she and her other missionary compatriots were leading Iraqis to Christ, which of course makes the invasion A-OK by her.

I told her I was an atheist and proud of it. She approached me, laid hands on me and started praying. Technically, that's assault.

Fundamentalist Christianity is a lifestyle choice. No special rights for fundies!

Also, I'd like to point out that I don't go around trying to convert people to my point of view. I can't STAND that about fundies. During the past year I've been harassed constantly by "friends," family, people knocking on my door, people on the street who try to proselytize me. Sometimes I just want to bitch-slap them.