Does this faith forum constitute a religious test?

[originalpckelly]

:shrug:

It may not be a test in the legal sense of the word, but is it in violation of the spirit of the no religious tests clause?

[Taverner]

1. I agree. It bothers me that many Christians are seeing this as a religious test

And there is that VERY SPECIFIC part of the Constitution that prohibits this - FOR VERY GOOD REASON

[tekisui]

2. No. Every one is still free to vote for whomever for whatever reason they

want.

[RB TexLa]

3. And you are free to use whatever reasons you want to persuade people to vote for you.

[Occam Bandage]

13. Correct, be they religious or otherwise.

[Ex Lurker]

4. +1. The Constitution prohibits government from instituting

a religious test. Private individuals are free to use whatever criteria they wish in choosing a candidate.

[AlinPA]

5. What happens there? Do they have to memorize scripture passages and quote them?

Sounds like a test to me, even if they aren't asked specific scripture questions. The fact that they are both pressured into going makes it a test in my mind. The media would crucify either of them for not showing up.

[Fuzz]

6. Could you imagine an atheist having to go through all this?

What would the reaction be?

[AlinPA]

7. Or a Jew, or a Hindu, or a Muslim....

[DearAbby]

8. this forum of debate makes me extremely uncomfortable. n/t

[enki23]

9. i've just been described, fairly truthfully, as a militant atheist

and still, i have to say no to that question. it may be a de facto public religious test, but that's true whether they hold a forum or not. so long as there is no legal, or procedural impediment that discriminates against nonchristians, or the nonreligious, that's all we can (or, really, should) demand. they can talk all they like about their beliefs in things like magical men in the sky, crackers turning into god meat, and winged fairies who save selected people from car crashes, earthquakes, and defeats at the hands of rival sports teams.

i look forward hopefully, though not optimistically, to a day when they choose not to.

[Beregond2]

10. Finally, an atheist I can respect!

You actually show reason and balance in your judgement about this "faith forum." Of course your picture of religion is that of a two-year-old, or someone who has never bothered to study the topic in any depth, but I forgive you.

[Wizard777]

15. I have an appreciation of all atheists. They form a catch 22 for the Christian Apocalypse.

As long as there are atheist that prophecy can't be fulfilled. "The whole world" is used in revelation. There stand the atheists asking the antichrist if he can explain one more time why they should hate the magical man in the sky. :rofl: Go Atheists!

[enki23]

16. gosh, that's nice of you

i can assure you, i was *very* well indoctrinated into a major christian denomination, up to and including seven years in a one room parochial school with daily religion classes. i truly doubt you could say anything whatsoever about significant facets of christian theology i unacquainted with.

now, jesus said we must become like children. if the ultimate goal is to achieve a childlike faith, as jesus made clear was the case, what is to be said about a childlike lack of it? in any case, your "forgiveness" is every bit as appreciated, and necessary, as it is genuine.

[Igel]

11. It's a democracy.

Deal with it.

The Constitution governs first and foremost the government. It's a kind of authorization for them to do things. Constraints on their power. It constrains the population's power, to be sure, mostly by corralling it into certain procedures and forms. And it used to be worse.

Most of the constraints on the power of the people have been removed--based on externalia, like skin color, property, having the right genitals. Those were stupid and short-sighted.

So you want to find another one?

Wouldn't that constitute a religious test on each voter, so instead of administering a religious test a few times, you'd get to administer one maybe 80 million times?

This is an improvement?

[Occam Bandage]

12. No. The government is not forcing the candidates to attend.

If the candidates believe that voters want them to attend, and so are attending, then that is not so much "a religious test" as it is "Democracy."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Well, if God is running the test he better set a low bar and grade on the curve.

Though, for the life of me, I can't imagine why any self-respecting God to want to hang around with politicians.