Head Of Atheist Group Says Obama Shouldn’t Have Publicly Prayed For Shooting Victims

[Tx4obama]

Article here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/head-of-atheist-group-says-obama-shouldnt-have-publicly-prayed-for-shooting-victims/


I say BULLSHIT on this one!

Folks say President Obama should be a LEADER and UNITE America, and then when President Obama IS a leader and tries to unite America they bash him for it

[Shadowflash]

1. This is stupid

I'm an Atheist. I don't believe in this stuff. But, if this is a personal expression of grief and faith and not trying to be foisted as official policy, then more power to him.

People need to lighten up. How about we save the outrage for the important stuff. This just makes us look more like whiners than people concerned with equal freedoms.

[dballance]

7. As a fellow atheist I totally agree

We don't have to doctrinaire every moment of the day. Let people mourn. And BTW I watched the speech. I don't recall a prayer. I thought it was a moment of silence???

[sofa king]

8. Hear, hear!

I am an atheist, and I'm also a reverend in the Universal Life Church. If someone kicks it and needs an infidel to speak for that person to his sky-golem, I'll do it.

We'll get rid of guns in America before we get rid of assholes who hate me for making a (correct) logical choice. Those assholes will always insist on being able to carry out their superstition's rituals in public.

And those assholes need those rituals, because their lives are guided by fear and uncertainty. If we take public reassurances and rituals away from those people, well, it's pretty much like stealing Linus's blanket, only Linus has a basement full of guns.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Reading the Washington Examiner article, I don't think he was 'outraged'

It looks like the Examiner columnist contacted Flynn to get a quote - probably because the CSH had put out a press release the day before criticising Vilsack for praying for an end to drought.

“May the Lord bring them comfort and healing in hard days to come,” President Obama said at the end of his speech today, referring to the victims of the Batman shooting in Colorado and their families. By doing so, he “ben(t) the rules” against government establishing a religion, according to the Center for Secular Humanism.

“I think it’s a little unfortunate,” CSH director Tom Flynn told The Washington Examiner. “Even in a situation like this, (when) he leads a public prayer to a deity that it pretty recognizably the Christian God, much as you can understand the emotional context of it, he’s still sending to some degree a message of exclusion to other religions who don’t call their god “Lord” and to non-religious Americans.”

“By the very act of praying, that’s a message of exclusion,” he continued. “If I’m a public official, I think I’m going to look around in the morning and conclude that, ‘hey, this religion thing is just too hot to handle, I should stay away from it in my official capacity.’”

Flynn was sympathetic to the president’s position, though. “I can understand the extraordinary nature of this situation in Colorado and why President Obama might have felt really moved to bend the rules this time, but you really can’t.”

It doesn't read like 'outrage' to me.

[eliminerlesud]

2. How is it uniting when there are more atheists in America

then there are in a number of religious sects?

I find it offensive when a political leader panders to those who believe in mythology instead of keeping his/her religious nonsense to themselves, in their home or place of worship.

ALL Political Leaders need to keep their mythological beliefs to themselves and out of GOVERNMENT.

[Tx4obama]

3. A President of the United States has the right to 'free speech' just like everyone else. n/t

[eliminerlesud]

5. Sure as I have mine to call him and any other political leader on it.

Matthew 6:5 is mighty clear on the subject too

But it is as his right to be a hypocrite too.

[madrchsod]

13. i bet some of those people that died...

and the ones still in the hospitals believe in your "religious nonsense" i bet their families and friends are praying. so maybe obama was directing his thoughts and his personal prayer to those people and not to you.

as the president of the united states of america he represents ALL the people of this country. yes even the believers and non believers.

[TalkingDog]

17. So... let me see if I get the gist of your argument

Because there are more atheists in America than there are Jedi Knights (for example), Atheists should be offended that Obama called for a moment of silence for the victims of the Aurora, Colo., shootings and Jedi Knights should not?

And since we are sussing out particulars, please define mythological beliefs. (An agnostic here btw, so I don't really care one way or the other, it's just that your argument seems particularly muddled)

[eliminerlesud]

33. mythological beliefs

the tales of Jesus, Zeus, Apollo, Isis, Gilgamesh, etc….all mythological figures, none is better than another, all are equal are and all are 100% pure BS.

[rfranklin]

4. I think that getting his prayer rug out and praying to Allah was a bit much...

a simple bowing of the head would have been sufficient.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

6. This organization is like PETA

Make some dumbass claim/demand, and then get free media.

[onehandle]

12. Atheism is a fast growing religion. The church needs publicity.

Seemingly.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. I think this was more the Washington Examiner columinst looking for a controversial quote

It's a conservative paper, and this is only quoted in the context of speaking to that paper - and the CSH is based in New York. I don't think they'd go to the Washington Examiner if they 'needed publicity'. See reply #19 for the context it was reported in.

[onehandle]

9. What a dick. nt

[madrchsod]

10. add him to my list of dumb fucks....

[babylonsister]

11. Didn't he specifically stay away from the word 'prayer' and called for

a moment of silence? I thought he did.

[madrchsod]

14. to many it`s the same thing .....

[tanyev]

15. If he hadn't, we never would have heard the end of it from the right wing.

And Mitt would have worked some sort of dig about it into his own prayer.

[Progressive dog]

16. That is bullshit

If this guy is really worried about separation of church and state he should focus on those bringing religion to our laws.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. The article made one small mistake...

it's the Council for Secular Humanism that this guy Flynn heads.

But, this isn't the first time Flynn has dumped on the administration for bringing religion into government. Here, he jumps on Obama and Vilsack for their "praying for rain" comments:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/atheists-obama-administration-out-of-line-to-pray

I'm guessing shooting off his mouth like this, and using such tragedies to get publicity, isn't going to make many new friends.

[rock]

21. Atheist here. I disagree.

I don't object to people being religious (if they don't object to my not being religious).

[Whisp]

22. bullshit is correct.

what a dumbass thing to say, but I guess he/she got his 15 seconds of fame for sending off that stupid attention/heat seeking missile of idiotcy statement.

oh, and I'm an atheist to the core, baby.

[2pooped2pop]

23. I'm ok with the president showing his religion on occasion

I just don't want to see it at every speech or every senate or house or other govt. meeting automatically started with one. They say all religions are included but we know they ain't letting the Wiccans do the morning prayer. By all religions they mean all the Christian religions.

But I give him a pass if he is talking about mourning and death and invokes the God word.

[The Magistrate]

24. A Major League Jerk, Ma'am, This Flynn Fellow

[malthaussen]

25. Just another Evangelical atheist pushing his faith.

Such people are as annoying -- and irrelevant -- as any other brand of evangelical.

-- Mal

[Jennicut]

26. Religion or non religion is personal. Obama expressed his personal beliefs.

Don't these people have other things to do like attack those that want to make religion practically a law? Like most of the Repubs?

[samsingh]

27. doesn't the athiest have something better to do? people are trying to deal with this tragedy

[unblock]

28. ok, it's stupid to object to obama on this one, but prayer does not "unite" america

i have no real problem with obama or anyone else praying, and i certainly don't think it's astute of anyone trying to promote atheism to pick this kind of moment to object to prayer by elected officials.

that said, obama was NOT being inclusive here. he was being religious and appealing to religious people and religious voters and religious communities *at the expense of EXCLUDING atheists, agnostics, and the non-religious*.

had he wanted to actually be all-inclusive, he would have avoided religious/prayer/god language.
it's not hard to do, poetry is replete with moving sentiment for the departed without any such language.

[DavidDvorkin]

29. I agree, although I understand political reality

I look forward to a time when that political reality has changed.

[MADem]

30. If he ordered atheists to pray, then the complaint would be valid.

He didn't put a gun to anyone's head and say "Pray, ya damn heathen!"

Childish fit of pique on the part of the head of that group--makes him look like an ass who is using a national tragedy to try to score a petty and completely invalid point.

[sakabatou]

31. I agree

I'm an atheist and this group bashes Obama for what he did.

Now let's watch pundits make it sound like every atheist is behind this guy! Hooray!

[bluedigger]

32. Really?

[Arkana]

34. As an atheist I'd tell that group to shut up.

The President's a Christian, even if I'm not.