Religion
Related: About this forumSam Harris: Donald Trump would be our first atheist president
ERIC W. DOLAN
03 JUN 2016 AT 11:58 ET
Republican Donald Trump could become the first atheist president of the United States, according to neuroscience author Sam Harris.
The one thing that is surprising and actually hopeful in Trumps candidacy is the fact that he has dissected out the religious, social conservative component of the Republican Party, Harris said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
Evangelicals, for the most part, were going for Trump over Cruz when it was pretty clear to them that Trump was just pretending to be religious.
Harris, who is associated with the New Atheism movement, noted that Trump referred to Second Corinthians as Corinthians Two during a speech at the evangelical Liberty University.
https://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/sam-harris-donald-trump-would-be-our-first-atheist-president/
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Feathery Scout
(218 posts)Cartoonist
(7,316 posts)Evangelicals, for the most part, were going for Trump over Cruz when it was pretty clear to them that Trump was just pretending to be religious.
Evangelicals were Cruz's base. Some may vote for Trump only because he has an R after his name. But real evangelicals won't unless they think they can extort some promises from him.
goldent
(1,582 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Oft repeated here.
rexcat
(3,622 posts)It is more than likely a small one, getting atheist to agree on anything is like herding cats.
rug
(82,333 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)I'm for Hillary, certainly not for Sanders.
rug
(82,333 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Kudos to you.
rug
(82,333 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Especially yours.
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Watch it: never let anyone think you are not perfect.
rug
(82,333 posts)rexcat
(3,622 posts)Very funny post.
srcameron
(79 posts)Atheism is the belief that their is no God. Donald Trump holds no conviction either way. He's not even and agnostic. Donald Trump belongs to the religion of whatever crowd he's speaking in front of. If he was speaking at Disneyland in front of a bunch of people who worshiped Goofy, then that is exactly who he would claim was his God.
rug
(82,333 posts)He would claim to be god bud he'd consider it a demotion.
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)And I still see something criminally idiotic about Sam ...
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Reading his 'the End of Faith' was like a hot and cold shower:
hurts, nice, ouch, nice, blast it; rince and repeat.
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)I've seen worse nitwits.
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)on culture or politics he considers himself to be. His major interest seems to be rhetoric, of a particularly virulent species, perhaps motivated mostly by a desire to propel himself into the spotlight through controversy
It can, of course, be worthwhile to consider the views of those who disagree with us, when we can learn something from those views. Unfortunately, Harris seems to teach me nothing: his ideas strike me as resembling ideas I had in high school -- sophomoric, inflexible, dripping nothing but self-certainty. His intellectual perceptions are binary: there are those who agree with him; then there is everyone else -- and everyone else must be crudely demonized
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle all studied at military academies. Did it make them 'experts on culture or politics'?
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Neither are academic programs geared at understanding religion or politics.
There is not a preferred University pathway to understand people, politics and culture
(sociology helps, but even hard sciences degrees offer courses in it)
edhopper
(33,579 posts)he does not want a Trump presidency and thinks he is disconnected from reality,
He sees a small upside to his nomination by the Xian Fundy dominated GOP.
I don't agree with hism, but i don't agree with what he actually said.
Unlike you and others here.
PJMcK
(22,037 posts)Dr. Harris is not advocating for a Trump presidency. He was merely pointing out that Donald Trump really isn't the Christian that he claims to be.
By the way, Dr. Harris referred to Mr. Trump's referring to "Corinthians Two." I believe Mr. Trump actually said "Two Corinthians." Most readers of the Bible would say "Second Corinthians."
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)Attending to him is a vacuous waste of time in every possible way
I don't care what his supposed "actual" political views are, and I don't care who he says he plans to vote for
PJMcK
(22,037 posts)Your viewpoint is obviously very strong and you should probably ignore Dr. Harris.
In any event, I hope you'll be voting a straight Democratic ticket. And have a nice Sunday, struggle.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)edhopper
(33,579 posts)have problems with reading comprehension?
Harris is not endorsing or supporting Trump. He clearly states Trump is disconnected from reality, and will vote for Hillary.
He is making a point that religious belief might not be as important as we think in voting.
People are taking the word "hopeful" completely out of context.
Now I don't completely agree with him, because the GOP has gone with the less evangelical candidate the last two times, so I think as a national Party it isn't as important as their hatred of Dems. But on a State and local level it still is too big a factor.
But let's talk about what he actually said.
PJMcK
(22,037 posts)Too often, it seems like posters on DU don't read anything other than the headline. I find myself scratching my head when comments miss the mark by such a wide margin.
Enjoy your Sunday, edhopper.
and I am.
Jim__
(14,076 posts)If Trump were elected, I would expect his presidency to have catastrophic consequences for the US, and possibly for the entire world. If people thought of him as our first atheist president, it would be a long time before many people would consider voting for a second atheist president.
edhopper
(33,579 posts)[IMG][/IMG]