Minnesota Representative takes flack over swearing in

[Martin Blank]

An atheist would not swear on anything, in all likelihood, but would instead affirm their oath, as allowed by the Oath of Office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

An atheist would not, of course, utter the last phrase, so it would end with "about to enter."

[Deacon]

If they were truly an atheist and a politician, yes they would. If they truly believe there is no god, or if they believe there may be but they don't know, then saying "so help me god" is harmless at worst, and in the mean time they can score political points with the various religious individuals and groups out there that might otherwise raise a stink about them refusing to utter such a simple line. The only time they wouldn't that makes any sense at all would be if they ran on an anti-religious, anti-god platform...though being elected on that platform would make me despair for his constituents.

[Herr Doktor!]

[quote="Deacon";p="705835"]If they were truly an atheist and a politician, yes they would. If they truly believe there is no god, or if they believe there may be but they don't know, then saying "so help me god" is harmless at worst, and in the mean time they can score political points with the various religious individuals and groups out there that might otherwise raise a stink about them refusing to utter such a simple line. The only time they wouldn't that makes any sense at all would be if they ran on an anti-religious, anti-god platform...though being elected on that platform would make me despair for his constituents.[/quote]
Basically, Pascal's Wager, but for politics...
But what if they're agnostic and simply feel they'd be being hypocritical by "taking chances" (for example, you could assume that supposing there may be a god, then saying "so help me god" for political bonus points, might be viewed as cynical/evil by a potential god... no?).
Point taken though. Time to return to my 70 proof yuletide spirit...

[Martin Blank]

[quote="Deacon";p="705835"]If they were truly an atheist and a politician, yes they would.[/quote]
As a stereotypical politician who panders for support, yes, they might. Someone who managed to get in on principles and stood by them would probably want to decline.

[jimkatai]

Someone who managed to get in on principles and stood by them

[Martin Blank]

We actually have a few in Congress, though they're all religious.

[adciv]

As it's bound to be asked. Who are they?

[Martin Blank]

Barack Obama is the first one that I can think of. Keith Ellison appears to have done so, though we'll find out starting in a few weeks.

[adciv]

Isn't Obama the one that couldn't get elected in Maryland and so ran in Illinois without ever having lived there?

[Martin Blank]

Obama was a resident of Maryland, but moved to Illinois. I'm not sure that he ever ran for office in the former, and I can't find much about his political career prior to the Senate race (but I'm also not looking terribly hard at the moment). Alan Keyes was selected to run against him in the 2004 Illinois Senate race, and moved from Maryland himself a mere three months before the election. Whether Obama moved to Illinois because he liked it or because he thought he could win the Senate seat (which he did by a landslide), it's clear that Keyes was moved there merely for political favor, something that didn't sit well with many Republicans coming only a couple of years after Hillary was criticized for her carpetbagging.