They want to have their cake and eat it.

@GeistInTheMachine sorry yet this is not the case.

Ask yourself why no president has ever been of a NON Abrahamic belief. And why it was such a issue that Obama was not Muslim. Even though he actually was protestant.

Heck not even a Jewish person has been a president. Even Kennedy being Catholic was a huge issue when he was president. Likely why he was even assassinated.

All the rest were some form of protestant.

BTW the church of England is protestant. And why northern Ireland wants to still separate from the UK. They are Catholics.

@DeWayfarer There is no official state religion in the U.S. You're correct that most presidents have been Protestant, but this is more to do with voters' preferences. And JFK wasn't the only Catholic president, Biden is also Catholic. I've never heard the conspiracy theory that JFK was killed because he was Catholic; that's a new one.

Catholics are a majority in the Republic of Ireland, but have always been a minority in Northern Ireland. In fact, that's why the counties of Ulster stayed in the UK when the rest of Ireland was granted independence. However, in the decades since the Good Friday Accords, the Catholic population in Northern Ireland has grown to where it's now equal to the Protestant population.

@LeopoldBloom[quote]that's why the counties of Ulster stayed in the UK[/quote]
Only six of the nine counties of Ulster are part of the UK. Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan are in the Republic of Ireland. Despite the population of the RoI being predominately Catholic, it's more tolerant of homosexuality than Northern Ireland. Also, abortion is legal in the RoI but still banned in NI.

@LeopoldBloom technically there never is a state religion in any country. Yet it still happens.

The people that vote are always the majority of the countries beliefs. That means they are intolerant of other beliefs no matter what!

That is just simply wrong!

@Lynda70 Correct, I should have looked that up.

It is interesting how RoI is more liberal. I think that has to do with the loss of the Catholic Church's authority in that country following exposure of the child sexual abuse (which was [i]much[/i] worse in Ireland than in the U.S.) and other abuses like the Magdalene Laundries and the needless death of Savita Halappanavar. Would it be correct to characterize Ireland as a [i]formerly[/i] Catholic country?

@DeWayfarer Islam is the official state religion in MENA and Muslim-majority African countries. Many European countries have an official state religion at least in name, even if most of the population doesn't follow it. I would also say that based on its influence, Catholicism is a de facto state religion in countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and Poland.

@LeopoldBloom the fact is religion is the deciding factor in government, not the other way around. That's all countries.

Religion came first, in fact before civilization existed with cave men.

Freedom of religion is a pipe dream for any country. The very laws are religious in concept.

@DeWayfarer It's easy to look at a Supreme Court decision like [i]Dobbs[/i] and say "religion made them do it." But all religion does is give people an outside authority to support their decisions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was definitely inspired by his religious beliefs in his civil rights advocacy. So it works both ways. Conservative religious types tend to be more vocal, so we assume that they are forcing their religion onto the rest of us while devout Christians like Elizabeth Warren aren't. But if Warren's concern for the plight of working people is motivated by her understanding of Christianity, the result may be different but the source is the same.

However, there's a big difference between this and an official state religion.

@LeopoldBloom there is no difference. As long as the majority can overrule any form of minority the predominant religion WILL prevail.

Supreme court's don't matter because the majority will and have always limited them.

Why no supreme court has taken over countries. Now presidents and dictators that's a different matter. They often do take over countries and install whatever religion suits them. Often it's a existing religion.

Lenin and atheism is a good example if you consider atheism as religion... Which I personally do consider atheism a religion. He could do nothing without overthrowing catholicism.

@DeWayfarer What I object to is minority rule. Five of the Supreme Court justices were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, and confirmed by a senate majority representing a minority of Americans.

Atheism is not a religion; it's the lack of belief in deities. Under communism, worship of deities was replaced by worship of the state. Soviet-style communism was a state religion, and the fact that it was atheistic didn't negate that. Buddhism is a religion even though it also doesn't include belief in deities.

@LeopoldBloom you simply don't have to have any deities to have a belief. Religion is a belief! And atheist BELIEVE there are no deities!

And you pointed out Buddhism yourself! A very major RELIGION!

Nor does Taoism have any deities another major RELIGION!

@DeWayfarer I don't believe God exists because I've never seen any evidence for one. That's different from a positive belief that God doesn't exist. I'm aware that there are "hard atheists" who claim to have a solid belief that God doesn't exist, but since I have no evidence of his nonexistence, I don't go that far. The term for this is agnostic atheism. I have no knowledge of God's existence or nonexistence, so I don't believe in him for the same reason I don't believe in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy as I have no evidence for those either.

@LeopoldBloom no! You simply can't back off and say Buddhism is not a religion! Same with Taoism! Both are classified as religion! So is atheism!

@LeopoldBloom [quote]Many European countries have an official state religion at least in name, even if most of the population doesn't follow it.[/quote]
That's true of the UK. The official state religion is christianity yet only a minority of the population (46.2%) even identify as christian according to the 2021 Census. The number of practising christians is likely to be very much smaller.

@DeWayfarer Some theists like to claim Atheism is a religion but it's actually an absence of religious beliefs.

@Lynda70 I don't, nor does the majority of the world. Yet even I dislike saying that because it's the majority that is saying that! 😆

@DeWayfarer You don't what? What do you claim the majority (of whom) is saying what?

@Lynda70 go follow the religious groups. The combined sum of them are saying it. Of course atheists will deny it. Yet they are not the majority!

If you look back on this thread you'll see why I dislike saying it. Mostly because of this meme.

@DeWayfarer I never said Buddhism and Taoism aren't religions. They include spiritual practices, holy books, and processes for appointing clergy. None of those are present in atheism. Also, no atheist has ever attempted to gain religious status for atheism, despite the tax breaks that would allow.

@LeopoldBloom argue it with the religious community.

It most certainly won't be settled here!

Yet my point about "the majority" holds true... simply because it's the majority that is saying that!

@DeWayfarer the majority of folk are female: just sayin.

@lancashirelady50 actually if that were the case their simply wouldn't be an issue. Yet like everything, things change. Yes we are on a brink of change, yet the majority couldn't possibly be only women.

US population is around 165.13 million males to 168.26 million females. That's very close to 50/50. And until the last 20 years females rarely voted.

Change takes time though. What you're seeing is that voter change.

Welcome to a democracy!

Yet women are more religious than men are! Always have been.

@DeWayfarer could you clarify your first sentence please?

@lancashirelady50 sorry edited it to "wouldn't"

@DeWayfarer and I presume “ there” instead of “their”?!