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	<title>Comments on: President Obama: Living Proof that Family Values Without Religion Build Character</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/</link>
	<description>by Hemant Mehta</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:25:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: Chris</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-809832</link>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-809832</guid>
		<description>Get em Dave M 
Religion is very important for a man to have it makes them strong instead of the weak minded Atheist who think they have to see something to believe it; we need a strong leader who has the mind that knows there&#039;s a God.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Get em Dave M <br />
Religion is very important for a man to have it makes them strong instead of the weak minded Atheist who think they have to see something to believe it; we need a strong leader who has the mind that knows there&#8217;s a God.</p>
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		<title>By: Colin</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-268035</link>
		<dc:creator>Colin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:48:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-268035</guid>
		<description>I happen to think that Obama is going to be the best president yet, but I also find it of real concern that anyone wishing to be president has to claim to believe in God in order not to commit political suicide. Sadly religious voters still seem to have the ability to limit the political aspirations of even the best candidate brave or foolish enough to voice what every rational person has to conclude.  Having been brought up without religion, is it really likely that an intelligent person such as Obama would acquire a true belief in God?  I can understand however that he may feel he has to regrettably adopt this relatively harmless stance.  In fact it would be more worrying in terms of his fitness to lead if he actually did change his beliefs based on faith alone, without actual proof.  I am quite sure that if indisputable proof existed of the non-existence of a God, it would still not be good enough for the many sincere believers, and any person wishing to be president would still have to claim to be a believer.  Otherwise all successful candidates would actually believe in the supernatural against all reason, which would really be something to worry about.  As long as this is the only thing they are forced to disguise about their views, I see no harm in them humouring those who&#039;s blind faith makes them only too willing to overlook the lack of evidence to accept the truth.  In order to move towards a change in this unsatisfactory situation, I hope that some day it will be possible for things like swearing on the bible to be abolished, since it assumes a belief, but in reality has meaning only to a believer.  An atheist swearing on the bible, as I am sure any leader of a predominantly Christian country who only adopted the trappings of religion for political expediency will have had to do, does nothing to ensure that they are honest.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I happen to think that Obama is going to be the best president yet, but I also find it of real concern that anyone wishing to be president has to claim to believe in God in order not to commit political suicide. Sadly religious voters still seem to have the ability to limit the political aspirations of even the best candidate brave or foolish enough to voice what every rational person has to conclude.  Having been brought up without religion, is it really likely that an intelligent person such as Obama would acquire a true belief in God?  I can understand however that he may feel he has to regrettably adopt this relatively harmless stance.  In fact it would be more worrying in terms of his fitness to lead if he actually did change his beliefs based on faith alone, without actual proof.  I am quite sure that if indisputable proof existed of the non-existence of a God, it would still not be good enough for the many sincere believers, and any person wishing to be president would still have to claim to be a believer.  Otherwise all successful candidates would actually believe in the supernatural against all reason, which would really be something to worry about.  As long as this is the only thing they are forced to disguise about their views, I see no harm in them humouring those who&#8217;s blind faith makes them only too willing to overlook the lack of evidence to accept the truth.  In order to move towards a change in this unsatisfactory situation, I hope that some day it will be possible for things like swearing on the bible to be abolished, since it assumes a belief, but in reality has meaning only to a believer.  An atheist swearing on the bible, as I am sure any leader of a predominantly Christian country who only adopted the trappings of religion for political expediency will have had to do, does nothing to ensure that they are honest.</p>
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		<title>By: Lee</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-268005</link>
		<dc:creator>Lee</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:32:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-268005</guid>
		<description>God is spirit, your life is from spirit, the best proof of God is your own mind life awareness, consciousness, and memory.  God does not require any man-made religion.  Man-made religions are a curse of mankind. God life is a reality without any man-made religion.  If you don&#039;t like calling your life source God then God doesn&#039;t care because what is, is you and you know it.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>God is spirit, your life is from spirit, the best proof of God is your own mind life awareness, consciousness, and memory.  God does not require any man-made religion.  Man-made religions are a curse of mankind. God life is a reality without any man-made religion.  If you don&#8217;t like calling your life source God then God doesn&#8217;t care because what is, is you and you know it.</p>
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		<title>By: Lex Fear</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-265935</link>
		<dc:creator>Lex Fear</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-265935</guid>
		<description>&lt;blockquote&gt;If memory serves, the bible is page after page of “this is the one, true, only right way and the one, true, and only god”&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Memory doesn&#039;t serve, it seems.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p>If memory serves, the bible is page after page of “this is the one, true, only right way and the one, true, and only god”</p></blockquote>
<p>Memory doesn&#8217;t serve, it seems.</p>
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		<title>By: Joseph W. Higgins</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-263741</link>
		<dc:creator>Joseph W. Higgins</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:35:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-263741</guid>
		<description>The Eternal Law gives all beings the inclination to those actions and aims that are proper to them. Rational creatures, by directing their own actions and guiding the actions of others, share in divine reason itself. “This participation in the Eternal Law by rational creatures is called the Natural Law.” Its dictates correspond to the basic inclinations of human nature. Thus, according to Aquinas, it is possible to distinguish good from evil by the natural light of reason.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Eternal Law gives all beings the inclination to those actions and aims that are proper to them. Rational creatures, by directing their own actions and guiding the actions of others, share in divine reason itself. “This participation in the Eternal Law by rational creatures is called the Natural Law.” Its dictates correspond to the basic inclinations of human nature. Thus, according to Aquinas, it is possible to distinguish good from evil by the natural light of reason.</p>
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		<title>By: GullWatcher</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-262930</link>
		<dc:creator>GullWatcher</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:35:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-262930</guid>
		<description>@Pattyjack
&lt;blockquote&gt;That’s what freedom of religion is for, which I’m pretty sure is also a biblical principle.&lt;/blockquote&gt; Ok, if anything on earth ISN&#039;T a biblical principle, it&#039;s that one.  If memory serves, the bible is page after page of &quot;this is the one, true, only right way and the one, true, and only god&quot;, which is pretty much the opposite of freedom of religion.

Also, the country was not founded on biblical principles.  Check the original documents - no mention of Jesus or the bible, few mentions of god, and one specific denial of the idea from the Treaty of Tripoli (thanks, Eliza!), Section 11 of which starts out with “As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion…&quot;.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@Pattyjack</p>
<blockquote><p>That’s what freedom of religion is for, which I’m pretty sure is also a biblical principle.</p></blockquote>
<p> Ok, if anything on earth ISN&#8217;T a biblical principle, it&#8217;s that one.  If memory serves, the bible is page after page of &#8220;this is the one, true, only right way and the one, true, and only god&#8221;, which is pretty much the opposite of freedom of religion.</p>
<p>Also, the country was not founded on biblical principles.  Check the original documents &#8211; no mention of Jesus or the bible, few mentions of god, and one specific denial of the idea from the Treaty of Tripoli (thanks, Eliza!), Section 11 of which starts out with “As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion…&#8221;.</p>
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		<title>By: PattyJack</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-262902</link>
		<dc:creator>PattyJack</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:08:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-262902</guid>
		<description>I&#039;d just like to say that Obama is totally right! You don&#039;t NEED religion to have good character. Some of the most &quot;GOOD&quot; people I know are non-religious, or at least they are not part of an organized religion (religious just means you practice something regularly; it has nothing to do with God. You can be very religious without God). No one ever said you need God to be considered a good and/or nice person, but if you look at the character values that are found in people who are considered to be &quot;good&quot;, I bet they&#039;re the same as the values in the Bible.
To all those who are against a religious foundation, too bad. The foundation has already been laid way back when America was founded. Plus the idea that this country was founded on Biblical principles doesn&#039;t mean that Christianity is being forced on everybody in America. There is no national religion. That&#039;s what freedom of religion is for, which I&#039;m pretty sure is also a biblical principle. All I&#039;m saying is America was founded on Biblical principles. You and I can&#039;t change that. So stop worrying about it. If you don&#039;t want to believe in God or the Bible, then you don&#039;t have to, but principles like the 10 commandments (which I&#039;m pretty sure almost every society and religion tries to uphold) and &quot;all men are created equal&quot; are both biblical, and who knows where we would be today without those principles.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;d just like to say that Obama is totally right! You don&#8217;t NEED religion to have good character. Some of the most &#8220;GOOD&#8221; people I know are non-religious, or at least they are not part of an organized religion (religious just means you practice something regularly; it has nothing to do with God. You can be very religious without God). No one ever said you need God to be considered a good and/or nice person, but if you look at the character values that are found in people who are considered to be &#8220;good&#8221;, I bet they&#8217;re the same as the values in the Bible.<br />
To all those who are against a religious foundation, too bad. The foundation has already been laid way back when America was founded. Plus the idea that this country was founded on Biblical principles doesn&#8217;t mean that Christianity is being forced on everybody in America. There is no national religion. That&#8217;s what freedom of religion is for, which I&#8217;m pretty sure is also a biblical principle. All I&#8217;m saying is America was founded on Biblical principles. You and I can&#8217;t change that. So stop worrying about it. If you don&#8217;t want to believe in God or the Bible, then you don&#8217;t have to, but principles like the 10 commandments (which I&#8217;m pretty sure almost every society and religion tries to uphold) and &#8220;all men are created equal&#8221; are both biblical, and who knows where we would be today without those principles.</p>
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		<title>By: tom</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-262901</link>
		<dc:creator>tom</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:03:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-262901</guid>
		<description>I don&#039;t think you need to show proof that atheists can form great families and values without religion.

Religion, for me, has setup a structure so I can&#039;t say how it could be if it was different when I was growing up.

Religion to me at least, causes problems in families sometimes because of the questionable and dumb beliefs that are set upon us especially by our parents.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I don&#8217;t think you need to show proof that atheists can form great families and values without religion.</p>
<p>Religion, for me, has setup a structure so I can&#8217;t say how it could be if it was different when I was growing up.</p>
<p>Religion to me at least, causes problems in families sometimes because of the questionable and dumb beliefs that are set upon us especially by our parents.</p>
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		<title>By: PaulJ</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-262774</link>
		<dc:creator>PaulJ</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:05:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-262774</guid>
		<description>No way would Obama come right out and declare his atheism if he was indeed an atheist. He would not be where he is today if he had done so. He&#039;s a politician, and needs to spin, to compromise, to get what he wants by less than straightforward means. Politics is a devious business.

My &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2009/01/theres-lot-of-fuss-in-us-at-present.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;take&lt;/a&gt; on this.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>No way would Obama come right out and declare his atheism if he was indeed an atheist. He would not be where he is today if he had done so. He&#8217;s a politician, and needs to spin, to compromise, to get what he wants by less than straightforward means. Politics is a devious business.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2009/01/theres-lot-of-fuss-in-us-at-present.html" rel="nofollow">take</a> on this.</p>
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		<title>By: Rational Moms &#187; Blog Archive &#187; A great day to be a humanist mom!</title>
		<link>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/19/president-obama-living-proof-that-family-values-without-religion-build-character/#comment-262633</link>
		<dc:creator>Rational Moms &#187; Blog Archive &#187; A great day to be a humanist mom!</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:48:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=8073#comment-262633</guid>
		<description>[...] (The Humanist Association Ad, via pharyngula and friendly atheist.) [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] (The Humanist Association Ad, via pharyngula and friendly atheist.) [...]</p>
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