{"id":26568,"date":"2015-09-20T23:34:48","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T05:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=26568"},"modified":"2015-09-20T23:34:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T05:34:48","slug":"ben-carson-muslim-shouldnt-be-elected-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/09\/ben-carson-muslim-shouldnt-be-elected-president.html","title":{"rendered":"Ben Carson: “Muslim shouldn’t be elected president”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Second<\/a>
The Kansas City Missouri Temple
Not far from where I\u2019m currently typing.
(LDS.org; click to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ben Carson is a very good man, by all accounts. \u00a0This, however, was not his finest hour:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/rundown\/muslim-shouldnt-elected-president-says-gop-candidate-carson\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I understand his concerns. \u00a0 But I absolutely don\u2019t believe that there should be a religious litmus test for the American presidency.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(It would be rather difficult for me to do that, given that, very recently, some were insisting that people of my<\/em> faith deserve second-class status in American public life. \u00a0And, until very recently, I\u2019ve always voted for people who disagreed with my religious beliefs.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I would and will vote for the candidate who best expresses, and who seems most competent and qualified to advance, my political, economic, and social values and preferences \u2014 regardless of his or her specific theology.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ah, someone might ask, But would you vote for an atheist?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, conceivably. \u00a0Though I confess that it would require holding my nose, for at least two reasons:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(1) Presidents, in their capacity as heads of our state, are required (as I recently noted in a different context) to give expression to our national civil religion, which is sub-Christian but not atheistic. \u00a0They lead national mourning and Thanksgiving, and so forth. \u00a0Protestants and Catholics and Mormons<\/a> and Jews have been or would be able to do that. \u00a0I think a Muslim could, too. \u00a0But an atheist? \u00a0That would be weird.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(2) There is something, to my sensibility, a bit non-human about atheism. \u00a0Unnatural. \u00a0Something missing. \u00a0A troubling colorblindness or tone deafness. \u00a0I don\u2019t say that about a serious agnosticism, or even about a flat lack of religiosity. \u00a0But I do say that about a resolute atheism. \u00a0There. \u00a0You wanted my frank opinion, and I gave it to you. \u00a0Or you didn\u2019t, but you kept reading, anyway. \u00a0In either case, it\u2019s your fault.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Liberty, Missouri<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Ben Carson is a very good man, by all accounts. \u00a0This, however, was not his finest hour: \u00a0 http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/rundown\/muslim-shouldnt-elected-president-says-gop-candidate-carson\/ \u00a0 I understand his concerns. \u00a0 But I absolutely don\u2019t believe that there should be a religious litmus test for the American presidency. \u00a0 (It would be rather difficult for me to do that, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBen Carson: "Muslim shouldn't be elected president"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Ben Carson is a very good man, by all accounts. \u00a0This, however, was not his finest hour:  \" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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