Sam Harris: Donald Trump would be our first atheist president

[UCmeNdc]

Republican Donald Trump could become the first atheist president of the United States, according to neuroscience author Sam Harris.

“The one thing that is surprising and actually hopeful in Trump’s candidacy is the fact that he has dissected out the religious, social conservative component of the Republican Party,” Harris said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

“Evangelicals, for the most part, were going for Trump over Cruz when it was pretty clear to them that Trump was just pretending to be religious.”

Harris, who is associated with the “New Atheism” movement, noted that Trump referred to “Second Corinthians” as “Corinthians Two” during a speech at the evangelical Liberty University.

“It is clear to them that he is just miming the language or impersonating a person of faith, but they don’t care really, as long as he does it,” he explained. “And that — if you look for a silver lining to this – it shows they just want a space where their religious convictions are not under attack. They don’t really care that the person in charged share them. If you pretend to share them, that’s good enough.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/sam-harris-donald-trump-would-be-our-first-atheist-president/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Donald Trump worships a god

whose name is Donald Trump. Therefore he isn't an atheist.

[stage left]

3. +1

You got it.

[LanternWaste]

5. No True Scotsman would build a golf course in Scotland, I suppose...

No True Scotsman would build a golf course in Scotland, I suppose...

[Blue_Tires]

15. +10000

[stage left]

2. I'm willing to bet

that he wouldn't be the first President to give just lip service to religion. God forbid.

[maxrandb]

4. Don't kid yourself

Trump definitely believes in a God.

It's just that he believes it's him.

[bullwinkle428]

6. The same guy that claims he's been audited so many times because

he's a Christian?

[tkmorris]

7. Not even close

We have had many atheist presidents, just not one yet who would openly claim that title. That fact says a lot more about the level of superstition out there in the Great Unwashed than it does about the beliefs of those who have held the highest office.

[lapislzi]

8. So all that other dangerous, crazy shit can be overlooked

because Trump *might* not be a crazy religious zealot?

Come on, Sam. And the lame last sentence of the article which states Harris's view that Trump is "disconnected from reality."

Harris is not doing any of his fellow atheists any favors by not publicly speaking out against the dangers of a Trump presidency in the strongest possible terms.

Does Harris believe that denunciation of atheists will decrease because Trump only pays lip service to the religious nuts? If Trump thinks that it's in his interests to lump atheists in with the other groups he's insulted and threatened, then he won't hesitate for a second.

If Harris doesn't know that for a certainty, then he is the one disconnected from reality.

[PJMcK]

9. Respectfully, if you watch the video...

... you'll see that Sam Harris is not advocating for Donald Trump's presidential bid. The Rawstory article is rather truncated from the broader theme that Dr. Harris was talking about. During the interview, he points out Mr. Trump's hypocrisy numerous times and goes on to point out how shallow the Trump candidacy is.

Additionally, I felt that Dr. Harris was highlighting the hypocrisy of the Christian Evangelicals who have supported Mr. Trump's candidacy. They know that Mr. Trump is only giving them lip-service when he talks about his own faith; they don't care as long as he supports their cultural goals.

Sam Harris would never vote for Donald Trump. Neither would I.

ETA: Neither would you!

[UCmeNdc]

10. Your assessment is right on target.

It is interesting that so many Christians can vote for the true atheist Donald Trump. Do Christians not recognize a leader that mocks their faith? Donald Trump certainly does.

[lapislzi]

16. Yes, agreed

I'm a Sam Harris supporter--with some serious reservations about some of his views. He's like a bad boyfriend. Every time I try to quit his podcast, one comes along that makes me go "hm."

So in the main, I'm with him. I didn't believe he'd support Trump, but I wanted his condemnation to be stronger. I guess that wasn't the point of the article.

As for the evangelicals, they're just beginning to realize what many of us non-religious folk have known all along: they're being played, and they've been played for decades. All you have to do is go back and read Lee Atwater to know how cruelly they've been used. That sounds kind of odd, coming from a person who generally detests religion and its corrosive effects.

But facts are facts, and they at least have the Trump's racism to keep them going. It's really all they have left.

I would never vote for Donald Trump. I am actively horrified on a daily basis by what I see and hear.

Peace to you, earthling.

[PJMcK]

18. Dr. Harris often makes me crazy, too

When I read "The End of Faith," I was knocked off my feet. I had found a writer who articulated many of the ideas that I'd had but couldn't bring into focus. His book did it for me.

Then I started watching his YouTube videos and reading more of his work. Like you, I'd take 2 steps forward but then he'd confound me and I'd take 1, 2 or 3 steps back. Mostly, I'm with him, too and I like your analogy that "He's like a bad boyfriend." Great line!

The Evangelicals have been awakening to the way they've been used by the Republicans. Of course, if you are willing to believe in unprovable ideas, you have an ability to deny the reality around you. And the Evangelicals are certainly not the only people who see our universe through the foggy lenses of religious dogma.

Peace to you, laisizi, but what makes you think I'm from earth?

[lapislzi]

21. Just a hunch--apologies for the insult!

[JI7]

11. or more likely a certain number of white evangelicals are racists

[PJMcK]

12. D'ya think? (n/t)

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. Hopeful?

I don't have a problem with Atheists in office, of course, but we have no "hope" of anything with Trump in the WH

[Takket]

14. I don't know, Obama has been a sincere Christian for 8 years

and they don't seem pleased with him!

[basselope]

22. You REALLY believe he is a Christian???

[Fumesucker]

17. Trump's not an atheist, he has a god it's that the god happens to be him...

[tenderfoot]

19. I think Sam Harris is a windbag

eom

[LiberalAndProud]

20. One more time I must disagree with Harris.

Not knowing the bible doesn't exclude one from being Christian. It's presumptuous and stupid to pretend to know what may or not be someone's state of belief. I tend to think that Trump believes in the god that blesses him. It makes for an easy conscience.