In What Other Civilized Nation Would This

[Minimalist]

even be a factor in an election?  Maybe we are no longer civilized?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13...4775620132

Marco Rubio's Presidential Campaign: Five Facts About His Faith

Fucker seems to be trying to touch as many bases as possible....which won't go over well with the base!

[Pyrrho]

What made you believe we were ever civilized?

[Jenny A]

Every nation has their stupidities. Ours are Christianity, homosexuality, and guns.

[Longhorn]

Someone needs a separation of church and state to the face

[Dystopia]

Sometimes it appears to me that Americans don't care about their fellow citizens. If a guy in my country said atheists are less good citizens I could sue him for defamation and there would be an outrage from the population.

[Cinjin]

I'm reminded of the words of John Lydgate - 
"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time."




This slimy christard turned slimy politician is soon going to find out that his campaign advisers should've been fired.

[Cato]

“I wondered why there couldn’t be a church that offered both a powerful, contemporary gospel message and the actual body and blood of Jesus.”

Disavowing the existence of god in the absence of any credible evidence makes someone unelectable, but being vocal about believing that you eat and drink Jesus every weekend is acceptable. Fucking hell.

[Pyrrho]

Sometimes it appears to me that Americans don't care about their fellow citizens. ...

That is a fairly accurate view of many, though not all, Americans.

Here we have the myth of the man standing alone, like some wild west gunman, and ignore that even he was taught to speak by someone else, and someone else made his gun, and someone else did many other things for him.  But many idiots here imagine themselves to be "self-made."

Stupidity is often the father of cruelty.

[Hatshepsut]

Marco Rubio's Presidential Campaign: Five Facts About His Faith [in Huff Post]

I'm a bit leery of the Huffington Post as a source. They're loose with their facts. For instance, the cited article suggests incorrectly that Mormons are enjoined from working as bartenders when they are only told not to drink alcohol. Lots of bartenders don't drink; lots of Mormons own restaurants and bars without damage to their church standing. Nor is it too easy to determine what Rubio thinks of atheists: Could he be pandering to his right-wing flank by rushing to affirm he is faithful? I'm not aware he has said much about atheists himself, even the Huff Post acknowledges the stuff on his position comes from bloggers, not from the horse's mouth.

If a guy in my country said atheists are less good citizens I could sue him for defamation...

There may be good reason such grounds for a defamation lawsuit wouldn't fly in the USA. A statement that "atheism makes X a less desirable citizen" is too vague. You can indeed sue for defamation of character in America, but you must point out a specific lie or misrepresentation and show that actual economic damage resulted from it. A hiring blacklist, for instance, might be a target for a defamation suit.

[ReptilianPeon]

Depends how one defines the word civilized. A number of Arab countries that are rather rich (and also Turkey) have elections and I'm sure religion plays a role there. After all, the the long arm of the Saudi Arabian establishment is pretty long. Tunisia, perhaps an exception, shows how the religious right and secularists can sometimes work together for the betterment of the country. Not all Arabs are Fascist Jew/Christian/Western hating vandals.

In Turkey religion is playing an increasing role in politics as some of the policies of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a secularist and the founder of modern Turkey, are reversed. I'm of the impression that in Turkey nowadays, there is a creeping Fascism that is a threat to all people living within the borders of Turkey. Sadly, people continue to vote AKP. I am certain that there are many decent people in Turkey who would like to be friends with the Armenians and apologize to them and the Assyrians and the Greeks.