American Presidents and God

Voltex

I was listening to some news on the American Presidential election. What has struck me is the amount of refrence to God.

I would have thought, that the most powerful man in the World who gets to carry round a briefcase with the trigger to thousands of Nuclear weapons would be a little more agnostic.

Celly Smunt

Not when the voters are die hard christians.

Why do you think every president tries to find an international relation?,America is a country of immigrants,if you can find a connection with the auld emerald isle you secure that base pretty much.

GalwayGuy2

Tbf, I think it's more an empty ceremony with Obama.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Mind games. They use "God" as a way to relate to the common man for votes and followship.

My name is URL

We're not really in a place to criticise tbh. The opening paragraph of our own constitution is basically a prayer

In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial

SEPT 23 1989

The Bible belt

thats why

ArtSmart

the trick re Democrats is to believe and not believe

whereas with Republicans its to believe or , well, die.


it is amazing Obama got in. and will get in again. truly amazing

Agricola

The sad thing about the US is that the men who drew up the constitution a couple of hundred years ago were far sighted enough to explicitly state that church and state had no business mixing with each other. Yet today they have a presidential election which is partly a "whos the most pious" competition. Plus a candidate couldnt be openly atheist and hope to have a chance of winning.

Celly Smunt

ArtSmart wrote: »

the trick re Democrats is to believe and not believe

whereas with Republicans its to believe or , well, die.


it is amazing Obama got in. and will get in again. truly amazing

The only reason he got in was due to the republicans putting clowns in for the running.I have a sneaky suspicion they don't want the job in the current economic climate.

M5

The church is a way of life here. Peoples lives revolve around the church and IMHO have a far greater influence on peoples lives over here than they did in Ireland 20 years ago. If you dont show a religious site and reverence towards god you wont be elected to any office

...and im not living in the bible belt...

Where To

'In God We Trust'

Celly Smunt

Where To wrote: »

'In God We Trust'

in god we thrust baby.

M5

ArtSmart wrote: »

the trick re Democrats is to believe and not believe

whereas with Republicans its to believe or , well, die.


it is amazing Obama got in. and will get in again. truly amazing

Its an extremely close race, i would not put a fiver on either

MaxSteele

My name is URL wrote: »

We're not really in a place to criticise tbh. The opening paragraph of our own constitution is basically a prayer

That is actually mind boggingly cringe.

We need an editor quick.

dodderangler

Obama is related to Jesus tho think bout it
He has Irish relatives and Jesus was Irish
Therefore he's Related to god
case closed

Wattle

God has a hard-on for nuclear weapons. See Revelations.

mariano rivera

Obama is an A-RAB

Da Shins Kelly

My name is URL wrote: »

We're not really in a place to criticise tbh. The opening paragraph of our own constitution is basically a prayer

In fairness though, the devoutly Catholic Ireland seems to be somewhat dying a death, whereas in the US religion seems to be becoming more and more important. We don't place as much emphasis on religion when voting, I don't think. Christianity and Christian values seem to be really important to American voters. It comes up time and again. Remember all the people who seemed to be convinced that Obama was in fact a Muslim? I don't believe for a second that Obama is a truly religious man at all, but he has to say that he is otherwise they'd never vote for him. It'll be a long time before an openly atheist/agnostic/anything non-Christian gets elected in the US. It's probably not quite safe enough yet to "come out" as it were as an atheist or agnostic or whatever when running for election in Ireland either (although Michael D Higgins has described himself as "spiritual" rather than religious, which says to me he's probably agnostic), but there certainly doesn't seem to be as much importance placed on it as there is in the US.

ArtSmart

pmcmahon wrote: »

The only reason he got in was due to the republicans putting clowns in for the running.I have a sneaky suspicion they don't want the job in the current economic climate.

Republicans like any party, want power. Interestingly, no sane Republican person wants it.

M5 wrote: »

Its an extremely close race, i would not put a fiver on either

Thankfully Obama will win.

Electing the one who has achieved the American Dream (as one understands it, usually one who became rich) is a big element of American politics.

However, I think they've moved away from that model.

Sinfonia

pmcmahon wrote: »

The only reason he got in was due to the republicans putting clowns in for the running.

The only reason he was elected was because he was less **** than the **** candidates purposely put forward by the Republicans, who could have easily put forward a winner, but chose not to so that they wouldn't have to be in charge during a period of recession. Is that what you're saying?

Da Shins Kelly

pmcmahon wrote: »

The only reason he got in was due to the republicans putting clowns in for the running.I have a sneaky suspicion they don't want the job in the current economic climate.

Do you remember all the hysteria surrounding Obama when he got elected? It was like the Second Coming. I think it was a bit more than ****e Republican candidates that got him elected, to be honest.

tom_thumb

ArtSmart wrote: »

the trick re Democrats is to believe and not believe

whereas with Republicans its to believe or , well, die.


it is amazing Obama got in. and will get in again. truly amazing

considering how high unemployment is , its amazing that obama has a chance of winning , i put it purely down to his opponent being such a weak canditate , jimmy carter had a better economy than obama yet lost , of course he was facing an extrordinarily strong opponent

ArtSmart

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Do you remember all the hysteria surrounding Obama when he got elected? It was like the Second Coming. I think it was a bit more than ****e Republican candidates that got him elected, to be honest.

I'm hoping Chuck Norris's '1000 years of darkness' thingy will help.

The fact that the deeply ill can exist as 'normal' folk is a testament to the robustness of the American constitution.

they should be very proud.

--Kaiser--

Voltex wrote: »

I was listening to some news on the American Presidential election. What has struck me is the amount of refrence to God.

I would have thought, that the most powerful man in the World who gets to carry round a briefcase with the trigger to thousands of Nuclear weapons would be a little more agnostic.

Just because he mentions God a lot doesn't mean he's a god botherer. He does have to get elected and the electorate is predominantly Christian

tom_thumb

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Do you remember all the hysteria surrounding Obama when he got elected? It was like the Second Coming. I think it was a bit more than ****e Republican candidates that got him elected, to be honest.

mc cain wasnt a sh1t canditate , the bush administration was extremley unpopular so mc cain was guilty by association , mc cain was a bit like john mc guinness , a member of FF but always seen as an outsider

Nodin

Where To wrote: »

'In God We Trust'

No, no. Its "Gawd". "Gawd bless Murica.

castletownman

Abortion for some

Miniature American flags for others

nucker

Voltex wrote: »

I was listening to some news on the American Presidential election. What has struck me is the amount of refrence to God.

I would have thought, that the most powerful man in the World who gets to carry round a briefcase with the trigger to thousands of Nuclear weapons would be a little more agnostic.

I agree with your point there, it also goes to say about a country that say they have a right to bear arms for self defence, only to see countless people killed in multiple killings in colleges etc....

Ray Palmer

I was in Time Square when Obama won. I saw a woman run to a pay phone not dial just pick it and start talking as if she was telling a friend about how great it was. A film crew taped her but missed she wasn't actually talking to anybody. People were crazy for it as a vision of hope. At a concert days later people were really optimistic on change and progress it seemed to indicate

A lot of lip service to god in the US but no link to Christianity as we see it. A lot of it is just a way to justify a belief by mentioning god, this includes the death penalty.

It is a very two faced god they are referring to and it certainly isn't a Jewish or Christian god

Isn't Obama athiest or non religious or something?

stoneill

tom_thumb wrote: »

considering how high unemployment is , its amazing that obama has a chance of winning , i put it purely down to his opponent being such a weak canditate , jimmy carter had a better economy than obama yet lost , of course he was facing an extrordinarily strong opponent

Jimmy Carter was also facing a disaster in Iran at the time of the elections with 440 US hostages and a failed rescue attempt when a Hercules and a helicopter crashed into each other.. Funny how the hostages were released right when Ronald Reagan was taking his oath of office. God was looking after one of them there.

UCDVet

Agricola wrote: »

The sad thing about the US is that the men who drew up the constitution a couple of hundred years ago were far sighted enough to explicitly state that church and state had no business mixing with each other. Yet today they have a presidential election which is partly a "whos the most pious" competition. Plus a candidate couldnt be openly atheist and hope to have a chance of winning.

Separation of church and state shouldn't be interpreted to mean political leaders can't be religious or shouldn't express religious beliefs.

For better or worse, there are a lot of American's who want someone who believes in 'God' to represent them. That's a lot different than establishing an official church or giving it governmental powers.

Wereghost

pmcmahon wrote: »

The only reason he got in was due to the republicans putting clowns in for the running.I have a sneaky suspicion they don't want the job in the current economic climate.

I don't know. Recent history suggests that a significant number of Republican voters quite like their clowns.

ArtSmart

stoneill wrote: »

Jimmy Carter was also facing a disaster in Iran at the time of the elections with 440 US hostages and a failed rescue attempt when a Hercules and a helicopter crashed into each other.. Funny how the hostages were released right when Ronald Reagan was taking his oath of office. God was looking after one of them there.

Yes. True.

Well, I think the only reasonable explanation would be that Ronald was closer to God's wishes?

tom_thumb

stoneill wrote: »

Jimmy Carter was also facing a disaster in Iran at the time of the elections with 440 US hostages and a failed rescue attempt when a Hercules and a helicopter crashed into each other.. Funny how the hostages were released right when Ronald Reagan was taking his oath of office. God was looking after one of them there.

your right , the iranian hostage crisis was a huge factor , carter would have lost regardless though

watched a tv movie from ten years ago last night about the reagans , dont know whether it was a hatchet job or not but if it was pretty accurate , nancy reagan had every bit as much influence on the presidency as hillary in the nineties

wendell borton

stoneill wrote: »

Jimmy Carter was also facing a disaster in Iran at the time of the elections with 440 US hostages and a failed rescue attempt when a Hercules and a helicopter crashed into each other.. Funny how the hostages were released right when Ronald Reagan was taking his oath of office. God was looking after one of them there.

And the Sad thing is that Carter is a very religious man yet never tried to shove it down others throats.
While the rebuplican pander to christians for votes.

tom_thumb

wendell borton wrote: »

And the Sad thing is that Carter is a very religious man yet never tried to shove it down others throats.
While the rebuplican pander to christians for votes.

jimmy carter was probabley the most decent man to inhabit the oval office in the past five decades , he was too decent - nice for the role

mikemac1

rarnes1 wrote: »

Isn't Obama athiest or non religious or something?

Muslim

Voltex

mikemac1 wrote: »

Muslim

didnt the americans shoot him?

Handsome Bob

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Tbf, I think it's more an empty ceremony with Obama.

What's your reasoning in thinking this?

EZ24GET

Agricola wrote: »

The sad thing about the US is that the men who drew up the constitution a couple of hundred years ago were far sighted enough to explicitly state that church and state had no business mixing with each other. Yet today they have a presidential election which is partly a "whos the most pious" competition. Plus a candidate couldnt be openly atheist and hope to have a chance of winning.

It wasn't quite like that. It's to protect everyone's choice. Separating church from state was to insure that the government could not force a specific religion or any religion on the citizens. I haven't talked with any one who has made their choice based solely on religion. I do think a candidates values are important and those values might be a reflection of his religion but through the years we have elected presidents and congressmen with a variety of religious beliefs.

my favourite rossy

Obama is A Ledgend .. Sound skin many a pint we had together

B.A._Baracus

I reckon there has been a good few former presidents who were infact atheist. But alot of Christian voters in the states. So if you wanna win you gotta appeal.

Sure, another "criteria" for being US president is to be a family man. Always has to be married with kids. Crap about having family values.

Scanlas The 2nd

S. De Sousa wrote: »

What's your reasoning in thinking this?

I think he just seems too sharp to believe in God. Unjust wouldn't believe him if he said he believed on God.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Franklin Pierce president from 1853 to 1857 didn't swear the oath on the Bible but instead affirmed it by placing his hand on a law book.

Interesting character to read up on, he's generally viewed as one of the worst Presidents in history and struggled with alcoholism during his tenure. George W Bush's wife Laura is actually related to him.

Seaneh

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Tbf, I think it's more an empty ceremony with Obama.

I wouldn't be so sure, he's a devout Christian, he's just not a new earth creationist biblical literallist.

One of his closest friends is the pastor of his church.

Courtesy Flush

I would imagine that many of them, particulary on the republican side, werent as religious as they pretended to be. But when a lot of your voters believe that the bible is literally true, you have to play along

Handsome Bob

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

I think he just seems too sharp to believe in God. Unjust wouldn't believe him if he said he believed on God.

That would be an awfully presumptuous attitude to have.

Teyla Emmagan

It's always the same with American politicians they are ALWAYS banging on about God. And what annoys me is how they constantly express how God supports them on this, that, and the other. It's all 'God is with this campaign' and 'God is with us in this war' or whatever, and it really gets on my tits. How do they know God endorses whatever sh*t or vengence they are peddling today? They don't, of course, he's just another marketing tool. As someone who, mostly, believes in God, I wish he'd smite half the feckers down for using his name in vain.

Midlife Crashes

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

It's always the same with American politicians they are ALWAYS banging on about God. And what annoys me is how they constantly express how God supports them on this, that, and the other. It's all 'God is with this campaign' and 'God is with us in this war' or whatever, and it really gets on my tits. How do they know God endorses whatever sh*t or vengence they are peddling today? They don't, of course, he's just another marketing tool. As someone who, mostly, believes in God, I wish he'd smite half the feckers down for using his name in vain.

Look how well Rick Santorum did by constantly banging on about God. In some areas the evangelical vote is hugely important.

Run_to_da_hills

rarnes1 wrote: »

Isn't Obama athiest or non religious or something?

Obama is Muslim and Romney is Mormon.