Althouse: Obama gratuitously insults atheists.

December 10, 2009

Obama gratuitously insults atheists.

See the update in this morning's Nobel speech post.

28 comments:

rhhardin said...: You can take God talk as a poeticization of ethics, in which case it's inoffensive.

There can come a time when you might wnt to say that literalizing isn't always the right thing to do, but that's not most of the time.; 12/10/09, 10:36 AM
chuck b. said...: Just when atheists are getting on my nerves along comes Obama to remind me how annoying religious people can be.; 12/10/09, 10:38 AM
TosaGuy said...: People are still paying attention to what Obama says?; 12/10/09, 10:40 AM
Bissage said...: How many votes have the atheists?; 12/10/09, 10:44 AM
Ger said...: How many votes have the atheists?

Unfortunately ...not enough.; 12/10/09, 10:46 AM
Tank said...: Have the Obamas been to church since he was elected?; 12/10/09, 10:49 AM
David said...: The key to this post is remembering that, just as Michael Moore voted for Obama on the assumption that he was lying about Afghanistan and Andrew Sullivan voted for him on the assumption that he was lying about gay marriage, Ann voted for him on the assumption that he was lying about God.; 12/10/09, 10:51 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I assume Obama is an atheist, of course. He's using religion to spike his rhetoric and to call us to higher things. I think both the truly religious and the atheistic should reject this use of God. I don't consider it unconstitutional, but it is insipid. Does it do some good? Maybe. But it's also bad. Yes, yes, Martin Luther King, Lincoln, blah blah blah.; 12/10/09, 11:01 AM
MadisonMan said...: Gandhi. Don't forget Gandhi.

I skimmed the coverage of the speech and found myself wondering: Do Islamic Fundamentalists listen?; 12/10/09, 11:11 AM
bearbee said...: He's using religion to spike his rhetoric...

A ready opportunist. A true politician.; 12/10/09, 11:11 AM
Arturius said...: Do Islamic Fundamentalists listen?

Most likely. I'll also argue that trying to convince them to give up their death cultish ways is like you trying to convince your 16 year old son/daughter that you really know what's best for them. The only difference (hopefully) is that the teenager doesn't self detonate in your living room to make their counterargument.; 12/10/09, 11:20 AM
former law student said...: He's preaching to the believers. They interpret religion as sanctioning war, while thoughtful believers should realize that religion sanctions war. :) Atheism is neither the problem nor the solution.; 12/10/09, 11:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Obama went to church on inauguration day. I remember wondering who worshipped whom, but I never found out.; 12/10/09, 11:39 AM
Henry said...: I agree with rhhardin, but then I'm one of those athiests who doesn't care.

I could do without the religion-for-dummies stuff, just from an intellectual perspective.

Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature.

Jared Diamond relates (in Guns, Germs, and Steel) that when two upland New Guinea tribesmen met, their core struggle was to figure out if they were related to each other. This was to decide if it was okay to kill each other.

The core struggle of human nature has always been figuring out ways to figure out who's on your side. Check the Old Testament, the Iliad, Beowulf. Only in recent centuries have humans gotten beyond that.; 12/10/09, 11:44 AM
Ralph L said...: Does the redirection tag refer to the speech or the URL?; 12/10/09, 11:45 AM
miller said...: Of course he insults them. They're not likely fall into a religious gaze worshipping him. There's no reason not to poke fun at those who will never love you adoringly.

I wonder what MC President thinks when he considers he is mortal as is everyone else. Does he wonder about his purpose in life, why he's here, and what legacy he'll leave?

Or is it simply about power?; 12/10/09, 11:58 AM
David said...: I assume Obama is an atheist, of course.

Based on what? His completely consistent religious behavior throughout his adult life? His constant statements about the importance of religion in his life and the nation's life? His constant invoking of God?

Or your assumptions about left-wing conlaw professors and politicians?; 12/10/09, 12:16 PM
victoria said...: Do you all actually think that any President is religious in private, not only in public? These people have no morals or scruples, that's why they are in politics. Nothing puts my panties in a twist more than faux religiousity I have totally rejected organized religion because of people like Clinton,Bush, Ralph Reed, Rush, O'Reilly and the like who hide behind the cloak of religion and then to exactly the opposite of what God says.Yes, I love God but I don't mind if some wing nut kills a doctor because he performs abortions. Bah!
Don't get me started on religion and politics. No prayer in school and take the "under God" out of the pledge. It's only been in there since the 50's.

Vicki from Pasadena; 12/10/09, 12:16 PM
hombre said...: Ann Althouse wrote of: "that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls" being "a gratuitous insult to atheists."

Why is that?

The "spark of the divine" either "stirs within our souls" or it does not. It makes little difference what the atheists or the opportunistic, so-called Christian, Obama, say or think about it.

She also wrote: "I assume Obama is an atheist, of course. He's using religion to spike his rhetoric.... [I]t is insipid."

I agree that he is probably an atheist, but I don't think this particular use of religion is "insipid." I doubt that the people the leftist intellectuals count on in wartime to die for them think so either.; 12/10/09, 12:27 PM
Ralph L said...: I love God but I don't mind if some wing nut kills a doctor because he performs abortions. Bah!
Let's see a link to any of the aforementioned bozos saying that.; 12/10/09, 12:32 PM
hombre said...: Victoria wrote: I have totally rejected organized religion because of people like Clinton,Bush, Ralph Reed, Rush, O'Reilly and the like who hide behind the cloak of religion and then to exactly the opposite of what God says.Yes, I love God but I don't mind if some wing nut kills a doctor because he performs abortions.

Don't get me started on religion and politics.

If the first paragraph is an example of your take on politics, religion, and/or God, you have a lot of thinking to do before you "get started" anyway. Sheesh!; 12/10/09, 12:36 PM
Icepick said...: Cross-commented from the other thread about Obama's speech:

Although Obama acknowledges the immense evil spurred by ideas about God, he presents God as the source of our ability to find our shared humanity and to abandon unjust wars. Atheists can stew off in a corner somewhere, apparently.

Well, all MAJOR branches of atheism adhere to the Golden Rule too. And most atheists are smugly superior to those that believe in some musty old superstitions about some bearded dude in the sky somewhere. So the SMUG + Golden Rule means that atheists expect to be insulted in minor ways by theists all the time. In fact, they demand it!

Nothing helps maintain smug superiority better than reciprocal condescension.; 12/10/09, 12:46 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: The thing about atheism is that it leaves you with no one to talk to during a great blowjob.; 12/10/09, 1:04 PM
traditionalguy said...: This debate is meaningless if there is no God. There is no extra credit in this short life on earth for saying that there is no God. The fortunate ones who meet the real God thru scripture and preachers of scripture also don't need any affirmation from atheists. But the tragedy is if the real God reveals Himself in His Son and suffers the whipping, beating, cruxifiction, abandonment and death to bear in Himself all the punishment deserved for all sin for everyone eternally, and no one cares whether He did that or not.That is Psalm 110 territory. The question about Obama is whether he has recieved his gift from the one true God, or from other powerful sources. Stay tuned.; 12/10/09, 1:15 PM
David said...: Since we can never know a person's true thoughts, I'm not sure that there's any meaningful distinction between professing to believe in God and actually believing in God.

But I do think that Ann got the social psychology of this all wrong. Obama chose to live a black life in the black community. Church, and God, is an important part of that experience. So he's got the intention and his behavior is consistent. Given that, the easiest way to manage his cognitive dissonance is to match his attitude (actual believe in God) with his intention and behavior (to live the authentic black experience by, among other things, worshiping in a black church).

In a lot ways, suggesting that he doesn't really love God is like suggesting that he doesn't really love Michelle.; 12/10/09, 1:57 PM
tjl said...: "In a lot ways, suggesting that he doesn't really love God is like suggesting that he doesn't really love Michelle"

Both are a distinct possibility. After lavishing so much love on himself, as there any left over?; 12/10/09, 3:48 PM
Revenant said...: I don't see any reason to assume Obama is an atheist. His actions seem to fit the beliefs of the nutty church he attended for decades.; 12/10/09, 4:24 PM
Henry said...: It's a perfect marriage. He loves himself and God loves him too.

* * *

As far as his Michelle and his family goes, I'm willing to give Obama lots of credit. He's the second president in a row that seems to be willing to pace his work life to leave room for family life. I'm in full agreement.; 12/10/09, 5:09 PM