OK so the first black man made President. How long will it take to get an atheist of whatever colour/sex elected?

Atheist... over 50 years surely. I think 100 is probably reasonable. But saying that, atheist numbers are increasing, and with the publicity we've been starting to grasp accompanied by the atheist groups out there fighting our cause... things could change quite quickly in America. I'm not overly optimistic about this however.

I say within my lifetime. So that gives us 55 years if you go by life expectancy (although I really hope I live longer...life is good)

Don't worry, I'll be the first atheist president. -_^

(20th January 2009 23:35)Eilonnwy Wrote:  Don't worry, I'll be the first atheist president. -_^

That'll be a blast!

How do you think we'll achieve that, Tiberius? By carrying on at this steady rate or some explosion of interest from the atheist community? Without a huge movement (huger than what we have now at least) I can't see any real progress being made in that time limit. In England maybe, but not in the states. Atheists are probably at war with too many different groups and ideologies to get far in politics. We're split between the anti-creationist enthusiasts, the LGBT enthusiasts, the pro-choice types, the separation of church and state people, those who are fighting against "one nation under God" and "In God we trust", those who are fighting theistic claims only... etc o.o
Obviously there is a lot of overlap and many atheists are taking part in many of these causes together, but unless some sort of common group or idea is established, we'll be a minority split between twenty battles. We all have our own pet projects to pursue. Herding cats is indeed a valid description

(20th January 2009 23:36)bozo Wrote:  

(20th January 2009 23:35)Eilonnwy Wrote:  Don't worry, I'll be the first atheist president. -_^

That'll be a blast!

Hells yeah. I'll be a kickass president, just you wait! Parties every night at the White House.

But in all seriousness I do plan to eventually pursue a political science degree and get into politics in some form or another. Whether I'd ever pursue an elected position remains to be seen.

(20th January 2009 23:42)Eilonnwy Wrote:  

(20th January 2009 23:36)bozo Wrote:  

(20th January 2009 23:35)Eilonnwy Wrote:  Don't worry, I'll be the first atheist president. -_^

That'll be a blast!

Hells yeah. I'll be a kickass president, just you wait! Parties every night at the White House.

But in all seriousness I do plan to eventually pursue a political science degree and get into politics in some form or another. Whether I'd ever pursue an elected position remains to be seen.

I wish you luck. But in this country there is a saying about politics being " a dirty business "......which it is!

(20th January 2009 23:38)LukeMC Wrote:  How do you think we'll achieve that, Tiberius? By carrying on at this steady rate or some explosion of interest from the atheist community? Without a huge movement (huger than what we have now at least) I can't see any real progress being made in that time limit. In England maybe, but not in the states. Atheists are probably at war with too many different groups and ideologies to get far in politics. We're split between the anti-creationist enthusiasts, the LGBT enthusiasts, the pro-choice types, the separation of church and state people, those who are fighting against "one nation under God" and "In God we trust", those who are fighting theistic claims only... etc o.o
Obviously there is a lot of overlap and many atheists are taking part in many of these causes together, but unless some sort of common group or idea is established, we'll be a minority split between twenty battles. We all have our own pet projects to pursue. Herding cats is indeed a valid description

I said 55 years The new atheist movement is really quite new (been quickly buiilding up over the last 8 years) so give it a few decades and I reckon we'll see some progress.

(20th January 2009 23:49)Tiberius Wrote:  

(20th January 2009 23:38)LukeMC Wrote:  How do you think we'll achieve that, Tiberius? By carrying on at this steady rate or some explosion of interest from the atheist community? Without a huge movement (huger than what we have now at least) I can't see any real progress being made in that time limit. In England maybe, but not in the states. Atheists are probably at war with too many different groups and ideologies to get far in politics. We're split between the anti-creationist enthusiasts, the LGBT enthusiasts, the pro-choice types, the separation of church and state people, those who are fighting against "one nation under God" and "In God we trust", those who are fighting theistic claims only... etc o.o
Obviously there is a lot of overlap and many atheists are taking part in many of these causes together, but unless some sort of common group or idea is established, we'll be a minority split between twenty battles. We all have our own pet projects to pursue. Herding cats is indeed a valid description

I said 55 years The new atheist movement is really quite new (been quickly buiilding up over the last 8 years) so give it a few decades and I reckon we'll see some progress.

Woot
I wanna be a part of it