How can any atheist support Trump or the Republicans?

Started by Atheon, February 02, 2017, 12:09:06 AM

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Atheon

Trump and the Republicans are in league with the Religious Right, which has declared war on atheists and atheism.

How can any atheist support a candidate or a party that opposes church/state separation, wants prayer in public schools, wants special privileges for Christians, wants to legislate Christian morality into law, etc.?

Here is Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court: Gorsuch. How can any atheist want America to turn into a theocracy?

"On Gorsuch, it's evangelicals vs. atheists"

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/evangelicals-atheists-gorsuch/index.html
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca

Shiranu

Because being an atheist doesn't mean you aren't a coward.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Hydra009

Quote from: Atheon on February 02, 2017, 12:09:06 AMHow can any atheist support a candidate or a party that opposes church/state separation, wants prayer in public schools, wants special privileges for Christians, wants to legislate Christian morality into law, etc.?
Beats me.  Voting in theocrats seems like a pretty suicidal move, not to mention antithetical to the core ideals our secular Republic.

Atheon

Quote from: Shiranu on February 02, 2017, 01:02:45 AM
Because being an atheist doesn't mean you aren't a coward.
"Trump may turn us into a fascist theocratic hellhole, but at least he'll make us safe from brown-skinned five-year-olds."
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca

Gilgamesh

I have certain views regarding a certain kind of corruption in top levels of government. Hillary is part of that corruption. Trump isn't. That's what it is for me.

Baruch

Quote from: Hydra009 on February 02, 2017, 01:43:31 AM
Beats me.  Voting in theocrats seems like a pretty suicidal move, not to mention antithetical to the core ideals our secular Republic.

Democrats are self hating, so self defeating.  Republicans are hateful ... there is a difference ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: Gilgamesh on February 02, 2017, 02:42:04 AM
I have certain views regarding a certain kind of corruption in top levels of government. Hillary is part of that corruption. Trump isn't. That's what it is for me.

It very much looks like Chaos Capitalism made into national policy, not just economics.  The slow moving socialist central committees will be completely out maneuvered.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Shiranu

Quote from: Gilgamesh on February 02, 2017, 02:42:04 AM
I have certain views regarding a certain kind of corruption in top levels of government. Hillary is part of that corruption. Trump isn't. That's what it is for me.

"I hate corruption (see; politics as usual, not corruption), so I will vote in the guy who only installs people who absolutely agrees with him and tells him how right he is rather than the the truth, puts his family into positions of power and then claims he isn't breaking nepotism laws because they aren't specific enough, and is part of the party that now owns all the major branches of the government and thus gets rid of all checks and balances. Oh, and I'll also shoot myself in the foot and castrate myself to save his policies the time of doing that for me."




"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

PickelledEggs

Many voters voted Trump because they felt it would be a better alternative to Hillary. I would assume that some atheists that did this still feel this way. Just because you're an atheist, doesn't mean you're rational.

Hydra009

Quote from: Shiranu on February 02, 2017, 11:00:25 AM
"I hate corruption (see; politics as usual, not corruption), so I will vote in the guy who only installs people who absolutely agrees with him and tells him how right he is rather than the the truth, puts his family into positions of power and then claims he isn't breaking nepotism laws because they aren't specific enough, and is part of the party that now owns all the major branches of the government and thus gets rid of all checks and balances. Oh, and I'll also shoot myself in the foot and castrate myself to save his policies the time of doing that for me."
Also, anyone remotely aware of Trump's nominees is aware that Trump's pledge to "drain the swamp" is a lie.  We don't have a less corrupt government.  Arguably, we have a more corrupt government now.

Some Trump voters may have have some good intentions on the campaign trail (I'm referring to Trump's pseudopopulism and perceived desire to clean up corruption here), but since the election they've become gigantic suckers.

Munch

#10
The elections came down to the old giant douche or turd sandwich. Voters choose who would be the least bad.

It comes down to sticking your hand in a box of scorpions, one box you can see the scorpions, the other you can't. Would you sooner see when the stringers coming, or leave it up to chance you won't get stung.

Also Hindsight.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Hydra009

A box of scorpions vs a box of roaches imo.  They're both unpleasant, and obviously neither one is my first choice, but if I had to choose (and I did) I'd choose the one that's far less likely to kill me.  Clinton's campaign and Clinton herself had a lot of faults, but I guarantee you her first week would've been nothing like Trump's first week.

SGOS

Religious freedom is only one value of many values.  There are other Republican values than creating a theocracy.  For example, gun ownership, redistribution of wealth to the top, cutting funding for education, or suppression of minorities seem to be part of the ideology.  An atheist may value some of those more than he worries about a theocracy.  Such values are ingrained in the right wing ideology.  Many exist more in perception than they do in reality.  For example, "the Republican Party is fiscally conservative."  But those values, real or perceived, carry weight.

Once again, the definition of atheist is one who doesn't believe in a god.  Beyond that, many of us, liberal or conservative, have other values that we cherish more than our atheism.  For me, environmental stewardship, national health care (although not specifically Obamacare), the wealthy sharing their proportion of the tax burden, and equal rights, all rank higher than my lack of religious beliefs.

Show me a Republican that demonstrates the he actually values these things, not just in his rhetoric, but in his actions, and I could vote for him.

Munch

Quote from: Hydra009 on February 02, 2017, 11:34:47 AM
A box of scorpions vs a box of roaches imo.  They're both unpleasant, and obviously neither one is my first choice, but if I had to choose (and I did) I'd choose the one that's far less likely to kill me.  Clinton's campaign and Clinton herself had a lot of faults, but I guarantee you her first week would've been nothing like Trump's first week.

Maybe so, but time in relation doesn't outweigh how events would play out. For all we know, trumps blowing his load so soon, that the backlash will hit him even sooner. This might just push thing ahead for whatever revolution or counteraction is taken against him. At least it can be said all the fears people had about trump happened quick.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Atheon

#14
It was like a choice between an overcooked chicken sandwich and a radioactive dog shit sandwich. Hillary wasn't the greatest (another Bill Clinton or Barack Obama), and had she been elected we'd be taking about minimum wage hikes and trade deals. It's be business as usual. But Trump is basically Palpatine, Hitler and the Devil rolled into one, as he promised he would be and as we're seeing now, and he is taking a baseball bat to the Constitutional underpinnings of our democracy and causing chaos both at home around the globe. He seems to be a power-hungry madman who has no idea of how the government works, and is hell-bent on fucking up everything that has been built over the last 230 or so years.

I live overseas, and let me tell you: people outside the US think he's insane and the greatest threat to global stability in decades.
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca