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JTHipster  ·  4632 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Atheism and Oppression
And? That isn't really something rare or even dangerous. Most people tend to make decisions based entirely on their beliefs.

Religion is a method of setting values, even atheism. Do I think that a great deal of interference in people's private lives, especially their sexual freedom, is good? No, of course not. Is it a religious issue? No, and it shouldn't be made one. Its an issue of values, not of morality or spirituality. Policy makers might value a more traditional, conservative approach to sexuality, while I will value a much more liberal, open view on it. My lack of religion and their existing religion plays a roll in the decisions made, but only in the sense that it is defining values like anything else would.

The issue comes up when religion is made the central issue in politics: all religion, including atheism, defy reasonable argument. When, say, birth control comes up, and a policy maker like Rick Santorum or others says how they don't believe that God would approve, well, its not an argument you can really have either way. Do they know? Not really. Do we? Not really.

Now, we could get in to the much larger issue where politics in the United States especially has become less about representation and more about defining what the nation's values should be, rather than what they are.