Posted on 07/18/2015 12:48:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Group sought to convince Republicans that their rhetoric was pushing away atheist voters.
AMES — As they arrived at an all-day cattle call of conservative presidential hopefuls, Christian conservatives were greeted by demonstrators from the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers who sought to convince Republicans that the party’s rhetoric was pushing atheists away as voters.
“They’re telling me they don’t want me in their party,” said John Fruetel, of Newton, who was part of a protest outside of Stephens Auditorium in Ames where more than 2,500 people were arriving to hear from the 2016 GOP candidates at the 2015 Family Leadership Summit. Fruetel said he identifies as a conservative on many issues except social ones. Amanda Knief, national legal and public policy director for American Atheists, joined the group. She said the point was not to put Christians down but to make them aware that they were isolating a significant voting bloc.
“The reaction’s been mixed,” Knief said.
The Family Leadership Summit brought together major names vying for the Republican presidential nomination: Sen. Marco Rubio, businessman Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Rick Perry, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Rick Santorum and Gov. Scott Walker.
Pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz interviewed the candidates in front of the audience, which is a key constituency of the Republican Party of Iowa. In 2012, they accounted for nearly 60 percent of GOP caucusgoers.
At the start of the summit, Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, said 2,954 tickets were taken for attendance. This is the fourth annual Family Leadership Summit.
Meanwhile, Cruz is knocking it outta the park!
2 Standing O’s, so far.
I Always walk up to Atheists, smile broadly, clasp them on the shoulder and tell them,
“I happen to think Atheism is a hell of religion! It takes as much FAITH to believe that there is no higher power, as it does to think there is one!”
They have NO IDEA what to say to that.
REAL Free thinkers would let someone believe or not ....not condemn them for believing
Excellent comeback I have said similar things but that is worded perfectly
I’m sure they do, but recognize that there is generally no point in replying to the invincibly ignorant.
...“I happen to think Atheism is a hell of religion! It takes as much FAITH to believe that there is no higher power, as it does to think there is one!”...
What I would say to you is ...
“Atheism is a religion just like not playing football is a sport.”
John Fruetel is a well known mouthy idiot liberal activist who wouldnt vote for anyone BUT a Democrat.
They may claim to be one, but it's the same construct as Bruce Jenner thinks he is a women...
He may believe he is a women but deep down he knows he is a man...
Same thing for atheist, they may think they there is no God, but deep down they are just pissed at God for whatever reason...
Take a atheists hand, place it on a table and pound his knuckles with a hammer
First words out of his mouth will G-- D--- MoF---
Wait' there is no G--, why are you calling out to him?
Put a gun to his head, tell to renounce his atheism...
Nobody willingly dies for atheism...
It must be a really shallow belief system if you aren't willing to die for it...like Christians...
Do you think if ISIS lined up 20 atheists on the Libyan beach to cut off their heads, like they did for those Christians, they would convert in a heartbeat...
Yes but athiests who dont play football dont want anyone else to play football either.
BTW...that point became moot once athiests started for forming churches...
Nah, you play once you pick a team, and by STATING that God does not exist, you picked your team.
I could see your argument with agnostics, but not atheists.
Since it’s logically impossible to prove a negative, atheism can only go so far. However, religions make extraordinary claims, which should require extraordinary evidence, the lack of which is papered over with faith. I suppose atheists have a similar faith of the opposite nature, but does faith in something make it a religion?
Well, within reason it’s logically impossible to state anything about the existence of God. So yes, atheism is a faith, and they do have their own churches, ironically becoming the thing that they eschewed.
They appear to not be very secure in their own beliefs if they are that offended by what Christians or Jews believe. If they want a real atheist true believer for President, then they will have to vote for Bernie. Good riddance. Or maybe they would be happier with a nominal Christian like Hillary who—like Bernie—believes nothing conservative. If they don’t like those choices, then nominate an atheist Republican. Good luck on that. Maybe their real problem is with their own thinking.
I've always found the latter term irritating as all get out. It's a smug, superior attitude expression that implies people of faith can't reason or think logically. It also is an explicit claim that atheists are inherently logical and rational thinkers. This, too, does not necessarily reflect reality. There are indeed rational, thoughtful atheists of the George Will variety. But there are also a lot of smug boneheads in the vein of Janeane Garofolo and Bill Maher under that umbrella, too. In my own personal experience, I've encountered far more of the latter than the former.
George Will? Learned something new today.
Yeah, he only brought it up this year. It was on one of the Fox weekend shows a few months back. Basically, he said he does not personally believe, but he has great respect for people of faith and of the institutions of religion.
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