Ron Reagan on his Father's Faith

Ron Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan and is a known atheist. When Ronald Reagan died, Ron Reagan gave a speech that many feel was an indirect attack at President Bush and his use of his religion. In a speech at his father's funeral he said:

During his father's burial at the Reagan Presidential Library, Ron Reagan described the former president as "a deeply, unabashedly religious man," but said his father "never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians - wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage."

I really find it disturbing when politicians use religion in order to advance their political cause. The funny thing is using faith as a way to advance your personal self is a direct contrast to the teachings of religion. Yet, you see it time and time again, just another example of ho religion destroys everything.

I want to to be God of my own planet one day...should I become a Mormon?

I want to talk about Mormons .

To preface, I have a very dogmatist(that's just a better word for bigot) view of all religions. So before you accuse me of irrationally hating the Mormon religion know that I irrationally hate all religions. I'm an equal opportunity offender. I plan on doing an editorial piece of my viewpoint for all religions (or at least the main ones, sorry Zoroastrian). But, I felt Mormonism to be fitting considering the recent coverage the religion has been getting concerning Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

For those that are not up to date on the history of Mormonism refer to the link of the wikipedia page or better yet watch the video I posted from South Park. It is timeless.

The issue concerning Romney is that Christians hate Mormons. No one admits it but everyone knows it. Romney is the perfect candidate for the Republican party, but his being a Mormon puts him in disfavor among many Christian Republicans. This is manifesting itself in Iowa where Romney is having a hard time gathering support in the GOP. LINK

Although Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has been able to make inroads among the evangelicals, an influential voting bloc in the state, interviews with Mr. Huckabee’s supporters make clear that a sizable number are distinctly uncomfortable with Mr. Romney’s religion and cite it as a major reason they would not vote for him in the state’s Jan. 3 caucuses.

Now for my opinion: I refuse to believe that anybody who can adopt such a religion as Mormonism founded on such absurd principles can be of sound mind.

What Al Sharpton thinks about Mormons

This video is great. Al Sharpton is not the sharpest tool in the shed. But this video raises a bigger issue: Can a Mormon be President? Will America trust a Mormon? Judging by these comments by a "Reverend" I'm guessing no.

Ancient Buddha Statues

In 2001, ignoring an international outcry, the Taliban destroyed several two thousand year old statues of the Buddha that were located in remote regions of Afghanistan. The Statues had both religious and historical significance to people both inside Afghanistan and abroad. Taliban officials claimed that the destruction of the statues took place in order to stop the worshipping of false gods. That's ironic because Buddhists don't worship the Buddha. They merely attempt to fashion their lives after his in order to gain enlightenment. The U.S. even offered to send a delegation of archaeologists to dismantle the statues and move them out of the country. The Taliban of course refused and the destruction took place. Later that year the United States invaded Afghanistan and completely dissolved the Taliban. See what happens when you piss us off?

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS on The DEATH of JERRY FALWELL-CNN 360

Haha. Christopher Hitchens may be a drunk but he makes some excellent points and is a true intellectual. I recommend his book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. His writing is dry and he often tries too hard to be intellectual but the book brings up some great points and is well worth the read.

Ayatollah

Separation of Church and State is a fundamental doctrine that is built into the government of almost nation today. Why? Because it’s necessary to maintain order and oh yeah, freedom too. Today Iran is the only functioning theocracy in the world today. That is to say that God is the supreme head of state, a religious man is head of the government on Earth, and a state religion is imposed upon the people who live there. Iran’s current leader is the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As the leader of Iran he has supreme control of both the government and the armed forces. Jihad anyone? I’m not saying that Islam is an inherently violent religion; I’m just saying that there must be some reason why most theocracies were overthrown in popular insurrections during the Middle Ages.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Sorry, but I'm a history major so I'm looking into anyway religion and politics tie in historically.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who was French emperor during the early 19th century, was the man largely responsible for the way much of modern Europe looks today. The story of how Napoleon got the title emperor is an interesting one. After conquering much of Western Europe in the very early 19th century, Napoleon remolded the French constitution to completely dissolve the Bourbon monarchy and give himself absolute power. He decided to have himself crowned emperor by the Pope. Pope Pius VII traveled to Paris in December 1804 for the ceremony. Right before the Pope was about to crown Napoleon, he snatched the crown from the Pope and put it on his head. This move was symbolic in that no one, not even the church or God was above Napoleon. This came as a shock to Catholic France, who had never done anything without the Pope's approval. Napoleon went on to lead France to many military victories until his ill-fated invasion of Russia. He probably would've lost anyway, but a Church blessing before his expedition couldn't have hurt.

No homosexuals in Iran

According to President Ahmadinejad of Iran, there are no homosexuals in Iran. At a speech at Columbia University Ahmadinejad said this, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it."

This man is crazy and to think that he runs his own country is amazing. Amazingly scary.

First Post: Examining the Effects of Religion on Politics in America

So, for my first post I thought I would examine the effect that religion has on American politics. Admittedly, I'm not religious--at all. In fact, I think it ruins the world. And to back up my thoughts I recommend a fascinating book by Christopher Hitchens God is not Great. It's a great book.

But anyways, I found this article by a BBC reporter examining the effect religion has on politics in America.

Basically, the reporter found that Americans are proud to be religious and, therefore, expect our leaders to be religious. Probably best explaining Americans and how they feel about religion in politics is this quote by an unnamed American in the article:

"The candidate I am going to vote for is the right guy from that standpoint. Each time he has a speech he puts God in there and I like that," Mr Barber said, declining to name the candidate.