God’s Relevance to Me as an Atheist in the Context of U.S.
Politics
By: Carol Engelhaupt
I wish with all my heart that god was irrelevant on planet earth. However, it
is impossible to watch the news and still be able to say that god is irrelevant
in the here and now. Differences in god beliefs are responsible for many of
the present bloody conflicts, especially in the Middle East. The major
conflicts are easy to identify. There are, however, many more subtle
incursions into our lives in the name of god.
God and Religion in Congress
Conflicting news reports inform me that there are either no atheists in the
US Congress or there are up to 28 or so atheists. Whichever is true; I will
deal with Congress as if there are no member atheists. By professing a belief
in god and religion, the members of Congress have an obligation to adhere
to certain moral principles professed by Christianity. If they do not adhere to
these principles, then they are hypocrites.
According to this Huffington Post article, there are no professed atheists in
Congress. But, according to other sources, there are 28 secret atheists in
Congress. Apparently, those who run for public office must hide their
atheism in order to be elected. So what does that leave us? It leaves the
majority of Congress professing affiliation with some religious group, most of
which are Christian and another small group of people who lie about what
they are.
It is my understanding that the Christian Bible admonishes followers to take
care of the poor and elderly. The Jewish people were ordered not to harvest
the edges of their fields but to leave those crops for the poor. Provisions
made in their texts outlined the care of the poor and elderly. Jewish tradition
for taking care of their own less fortunate people continues to this day. I
may not agree with the notion that a god told them to do this, but I do
agree with the outcome–being kind to the needy in their communities. As
Christians have adopted the Jewish writings in the Bible as their own, the
same rules regarding the less fortunate should apply to them.
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