Should there be a religious requirement to hold political office?

[Elok]

Well, what do you mean by "valid"? Constitutionally acceptable? Well, it goes against the spirit of the First--to divorce private beliefs from public affairs--but since we can't do anything to stop it, it can hardly be banned. But unless you have reason to believe the candidate will impose his/her beliefs in office, or those beliefs make you think the person is mildly unhinged, as in Mr. Dennis "I wuv UFOS" Kucinich...it's about as legitimate as voting against the left-handed IMO.

[giblets]

Well, what do you mean by "valid"? Constitutionally acceptable? Well, it goes against the spirit of the First--to divorce private beliefs from public affairs--but since we can't do anything to stop it, it can hardly be banned. But unless you have reason to believe the candidate will impose his/her beliefs in office, or those beliefs make you think the person is mildly unhinged, as in Mr. Dennis "I wuv UFOS" Kucinich...it's about as legitimate as voting against the left-handed IMO.

Seeing an object in the sky they can't identify makes someone "mildly unhinged"?

[bc1871]

For the most part, candidates with a religious background tend to have higher moral standards than their none practicing/atheist opponents.

[Hauldren Collider]

That has to be a troll.

[bc1871]

That has to be a troll.

It's true, a candidate with a relgious background will generally have higher moral convictions!

[DinoDoc]

Seeing an object in the sky they can't identify makes someone "mildly unhinged"?

Seriously making this speech makes one mildly unhinged: http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_DKucinich6.12.html

[Hauldren Collider]

Dennis Kucinich is a crazy raving lunatic.

[Guynemer]

It's true, a candidate with a relgious background will generally have higher moral convictions!

That, my fine Canadian friend, is a steaming, massive load of fetid horse****.

[Proteus_MST]

IMHO ideally it should be the other way round...
people who are religious fundamentalists (no matter which faith) should be disallowed to hold a political office
as their religious fundamentalism could very well get in their way of making just and sane political decisions
of course it would be difficulty to test, whether someone is "just" moderately religious or already a fundamentalist

[Boris Godunov]

That, my fine Canadian friend, is a steaming, massive load of fetid horse****.

Not if one defines "higher morality" as simply being religious...

[giblets]

Seriously making this speech makes one mildly unhinged: http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_DKucinich6.12.html

I skimmed that and all I noticed is that he wants to establish a "department of peace". I don't agree but I don't see how it makes him crazy.

[giblets]

Dennis Kucinich is a crazy raving lunatic.

Right, it's easier to call someone crazy than it is to explain why you disagree with them.

[Guynemer]

Not if one defines "higher morality" as simply being religious...

Indeed.

While I could define "higher morality" as ****ing anything that moves, that doesn't make it so; however, I doubt Nanook would get that particular philosophical point.




As for Kucinich: I don't know if he's a raving loon or not. If he truly believes we are being visited by E.T., then yeah, he's a complete howling-at-the-moon bat**** loony toon. Even if he doesn't believe that, the fact that he appears to be the offspring of a Keebler elf and Casey Kasem gives me a raging case of the creeping willies.

[MrFun]

For the most part, candidates with a religious background tend to have higher moral standards than their none practicing/atheist opponents.

Oh, you're referring to those "family values" religiously devout politicians who cheat on their wives, have multiple marriages then divorces, or who are the epitome of financial or political corruption.

[Boris Godunov]

As for Kucinich: I don't know if he's a raving loon or not. If he truly believes we are being visited by E.T., then yeah, he's a complete howling-at-the-moon bat**** loony toon. Even if he doesn't believe that, the fact that he appears to be the offspring of a Keebler elf and Casey Kasem gives me a raging case of the creeping willies.

If Kucinich thinks we're being visited by aliens, his view is well in line with the U.S. population:

http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/15/ufo.poll/

Nearly 50 years since an alleged UFO was sighted at Roswell, New Mexico, a new CNN/Time poll released Sunday shows that 80 percent of Americans think the government is hiding knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.

While nearly three-quarters of the 1,024 adults questioned for the poll said they had never seen or known anyone who saw a UFO, 54 percent believe intelligent life exists outside Earth.

Sixty-four percent of the respondents said that aliens have contacted humans, half said they've abducted humans, and 37 percent said they have contacted the U.S. government. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

But only 9 percent said they believed there were any aliens near the Hale-Bopp comet, which recently passed close enough to Earth to be seen with the naked eye.

Some "ufologists" believed a spacecraft was hidden near the comet, and members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed suicide, believing that they would be taken aboard the craft and returned "home."

Sure it's from 1997, but I doubt that skepticism of alien visitations would have decreased much if at all since then...

The weirdest thing about Kucinich is how the little keebler elf is married to a woman who is a relative bombshell compared to him:



(he's not sitting down in that picture...)