An Atheist Prime Minister?

SirJosephPorter

SirJosephPorter

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I remember we discussed the rise to Prime Ministership of Ms. Julia Gillard. However, at that time I was not aware of one significant point (I don’t think it was emphasized much, and I don't remember any of the posters mentioning it).

Prime minister of Australia is a self avowed Atheist. I think this is the first time in English speaking world that an Atheist has become a Prime Minister.

I think the closest an Atheist came to PM ship before this was in Britain, when I was living there. When Mrs. Thatcher was the PM, Labour Party elected Michael Foot as their leader, who was an agnostic. However, he was an ineffectual, lousy politician. He could not keep his own party united, let alone try to defeat Mrs. Thatcher.

It would be interesting to see how she does in an election. Anyway, this is a welcome development indeed. As a fellow Atheist, I congratulate Ms. Gillard on her achievement.

Australian Atheists Welcome New Prime Minister "who keeps religion out of politics" | International Humanist and Ethical Union Australian Atheists Welcome New Prime Minister "who keeps religion out of politics" | International Humanist and Ethical Union
 
SirJosephPorter

SirJosephPorter

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Chiliagon said:
who really cares if he is or not?
Click to expand...

It is not a ‘he’, but ‘she’. And I like to think that we in Canada have advanced far enough so that a candidate’s religious affiliations (or lack thereof) should not matter.

Unfortunately, that may not be the case. In USA for instance, it would be impossible for an Atheist to get elected for a statewide or nationwide office (senator or president). Former president George Bush openly proclaimed that an Atheist cannot be a good American.

So religious affiliations of a candidate should not matter, but they do, in many cases.
 
Bar Sinister

Bar Sinister

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Religious affiliations and belief in some deity seem to matter only in the US so far as modern democracies are concerned. In Canada a candidate that was constantly referring to a god in his speeches would probably lose votes.
 
selin

selin

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I appreciate it - secular prime minister "who keeps religion out of politics" seems objective, equitable.
 
SirJosephPorter

SirJosephPorter

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Bar Sinister said:
Religious affiliations and belief in some deity seem to matter only in the US so far as modern democracies are concerned. In Canada a candidate that was constantly referring to a god in his speeches would probably lose votes.
Click to expand...

Quite so, I think we in Canada have advanced to that level. Sadly, it is a different story in USA. Anyway, it would be interesting to see how it plays out in the next election in Australia.
 
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