When will the U.S. have its first non-Christian President?

[Derek]

Never. The Christians aren't going anywhere and have been resilient for over 2,000 years.

[Derek]

Never, don't underestimate the Christian or Catholic Church.

[Derek]

Never, don't underestimate the Christian or Catholic Church.

lol. That's what people said in 1850 about ever electing a black President.

Both blacks and whites are Christians in terms of majorities. You have apples and oranges there.

[Derek]

Never, don't underestimate the Christian or Catholic Church.

lol. That's what people said in 1850 about ever electing a black President.

Both blacks and whites are Christians in terms of majorities. You have apples and oranges there.

White people and Christians are both majorities in the U.S. right now. Someone 200 years ago would have said that we will never have a non-white President. Now we have one. Now you're saying we'll never have a non-Christian President.

Be glad you won't be around to see it in 200 years.

[Derek]

That's true it is. I still doubt Obama's faith. After all he said that sometimes he gets quotes from other religions from a member of his church that help him throughout his day. What other religions might Barack Hussein Obama be speaking of?

[Derek]

Obama went to a Christian chruch, i Know this because he had a crazy Christian minister.  It reinforced people that he was a Christian and did not attend a muslim church.  It was like reverse psychology or diverting attention from the muslim issue in a way.  I think people would be more skeptical of a muslim presidential candidate based on current circumstances.

Yes he went to a church whose pastor was a leader in the nation of Islam and was paid to switch. Wright lives in a rich gated community where he is the only black person.

[Derek]

And if Obama was a Republican, the black community would denounce him as being half black.

[Derek]

And if Obama was a Republican, the black community would denounce him as being half black.

Its not about race, its about being part of the group of Black Democrats that carried the Civil Rights legislation.  If a Black person turns against the Civil Rights movement, they are turning against the Black community and voters.  There are Blue dog democrats so its not an idealogical issue of taxes and corporations.  Its a social issue of allowing Blacks to mix in society with white society, vote, and not go into separate bathrooms or buses.  There is a great divide between black communities and white communities and that is brought about by economic factors and segregation factors.  Blacks were forced into Black communities and not allowed to mix with white scoiety in education, jobs, ect.  It is going to take time for races to assimilate into each other and bridge the problems of the sixties and seventies.

Democrats weren't in favor of civil rights until they learned how to manipulate black voters over it. Ever since then there has been more crime, out of wedlock births, and murders in the black community. Good job democrats.

[Derek]

And if Obama was a Republican, the black community would denounce him as being half black.

Its not about race, its about being part of the group of Black Democrats that carried the Civil Rights legislation.  If a Black person turns against the Civil Rights movement, they are turning against the Black community and voters.  There are Blue dog democrats so its not an idealogical issue of taxes and corporations.  Its a social issue of allowing Blacks to mix in society with white society, vote, and not go into separate bathrooms or buses.  There is a great divide between black communities and white communities and that is brought about by economic factors and segregation factors.  Blacks were forced into Black communities and not allowed to mix with white scoiety in education, jobs, ect.  It is going to take time for races to assimilate into each other and bridge the problems of the sixties and seventies.

Democrats weren't in favor of civil rights until they learned how to manipulate black voters over it. Ever since then there has been more crime, out of wedlock births, and murders in the black community. Good job democrats.

It seems from this statement you equally hate Democrats and Black people.  And you wonder why Blacks don't trust Republicans.  Obviously Republicans were the only reason for Rich Wall Streeters manipulating the bubble and then causing the market crash!

Oh yea that's really true. It was the democrats who allowed for the loans to be that easily attainable in the first place. Bush tried to fix it in 2003 and McCain introduced his own bill in 2005. Ask Chris Dodd and Barack Obama about their sweetheart deals on housing loans and you'll have the answer as to the housing market crash.

[Derek]

We may have already elected him in 2008:

*All three of his names are Arabic
*He calls the Muslim Call to Prayer, "the sweetest sound on Earth"
*Neither of his parents were Christians
*None of his friends say that he was interesting in converting to Christianity
*He donated $1 million to a presidential candidate in Kenya who promised to establish an Islamic theocracy, much like that of Iran
*He was educated at Muslim schools in Indonesia
*He quotes from the Quaran in his speeches
*During his trip to Kenya in 2007, he visited several mosques but no churches, even when Kenya has a National Temple and far more churches than mosques
*In Turkey (2009), he visited no churches but several mosques

Interpret is as you will, but the evidence looks pretty damning to me....

Obama's mom is a Christian and he himself is a Christian.

And his pastor, J. Wright was paid to convert from Islam. What do you make of the things Wright says while preaching that Obama claimed to never hear.

[Derek]

We should be encouraging him then.

[Derek]

2009-2013

Obama is of partial Muslim origin, but he does not self-identify as Muslim. He self-identifies as Christian. I mean when will we have a President who will self-identify as something other than Christian (and Mormons self-identify as Christians, so they don't count)?

What is this fascination and obsession with having a non-Christian President?  Its not like other countries are interested in having minority religion presidents.  There would never be a catholic PM in England (Blair just converted to Catholicism post-PM) because the Queen is the Religious Leader of the English Church.  I can see France having a Jewish President because they are very secular, but its also a very Catholic country.  I don't think Israel would ever allow a Muslim PM.  Russia has a lot of Jewish leaders. 

I can see Governors from secular northern states elect Jewish politicians like SPitzer or Rendell but its a far greater obstacle to appeal to all 50 states.  I just think religion is often too divisive and it would be far more difficult to win voters from the christian conservative states.  Even Bill Clinton was a church-going Southern Baptist.  Religion is too powerful an influencer in national politics.

The fascination with electing a non-Christian President is the same for why many Americans were interested in electing a non-white President. They want to see a religious minority elected President to demonstrate how far the country has gone in terms of religious tolerance.

I think the US is the most religiously tolerant country in the world unlike most other countries.  But I'm arguing that in order to win a national election, you need to be inclusive and not a divider.  Religion is also one of the most divisive things in this world and its a choice to be divisive.  If you say you want a non-Christian to be President, some may see it as wanting an anti-Christian to be President.  Unlike Race, a person cannot choose his or her own race.  I'm not saying that a secular person cannot be elected president, but often times religion becomes divisive and we need a President who will be inclusive.

I agree that religion is a very divisive force in politics now, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be that way 50 or 100 years from now. Even if a person is free to choose his/her own religion, I don't think many people in the future will care too much about a candidate's religion, regardless of what it may be. I don't think electing a non-Christian President will be as divisive of a topic several decades from now as it is today, and thus I think it will be much easier to get one elected.

Well, I think religion would still be a problem especially if that person was Orthodox and seen as a radical religious conservative.  There might be a non-christian president when there is peace in the middle-east but for now it would cause too much international strife and distrust.  Maybe some non-threatening religion like Bahai, Buddhism, or scientology. 

We almost had a Jewish VP in 2000. I think we're definitely ready for a Jewish President. And I think there will be peace in the Middle East in the next five (or worst case scenario, ten) years. I don't think any world leaders complained about Lieberman's religion when he was picked as Gore's VP choice, despite the fact that the VP is second in line to the Presidency. To be honest, I don't think any world leaders would ever complain about the religion of a U.S. President.

Ready? Is America behind or something by voting for Christians? I'd be happy to vote for a Jew if he were conservative. Most world leaders wouldn't complain.