Sunday, July 10, 2005

Atheists and Patriots Under God

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

Stephen Roberts

My first reaction to this quote was that it was spot on. Upon reflection, though, in isolation (as I found it floating around the internet) I think it is lacking.

The quote addresses a person of monotheistic faith who, presumably, rejects all other gods as a tenet of his faith. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Surely the speaker is not atheistic on the basis of dogma.

Or maybe he is. ThoughI tend to doubt it, maybe that's the proper context. I'll try to learn a bit more about the context of quote.

This next quote, which I happened upon while looking into the one above, bothers me a bit more:

"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."

George Bush - 41st US President

This one doesn't seem to require much context.

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