North Star Writers Group

I was quite impressed by the barrage of questions that sought America’s psychological perspective on John Edwards. Apparently, most of us are comfortable stating whether or not the man should run for president despite his wife’s cancer. Give me a break. And how much do we think his wife’s illness would distract Edwards from the presidency? The elections are two years away. They might as well ask us if we are concerned about his shoe size, or perhaps what intramural sports he played in college. And my favorite: Do we think his wife’s cancer would make him better able to understand the concerns of average Americans?

I think the idea behind this one is that politicians, after a few years, seem to lose touch with reality. It may have something to do with faulty vents in government buildings, and of course, it may not. But somehow, a seasoned politician generally comes out looking and sounding like a well-trained pet. You may have noticed that the same metamorphosis generally happens to newscasters.

So, hypothetically, the cancer of a politician’s wife can help to counteract this miraculous transformation. It is an interesting theory.

But getting to the brunt of the poll, 91 percent of Americans claim to believe in God. Six percent of us don’t believe in God, and 3 percent of us are atheists, which leads me to the conclusion that 3 percent of us don’t know what an atheist is. If the purpose of the poll was to point out America’s illiteracy, I’d be impressed.

The one truly thought-provoking question Newsweek asked was whether or not we would vote for a candidate who didn’t believe in God. Sixty-two percent said they wouldn’t.

On one hand, I don’t think I could vote for an atheist because I would question how grounded the person was. I’m sure there are some incredibly intelligent atheists, but I’m not sure many of them are psychologically stable. Of course, that’s just a theory.

But on the other hand, when I consider Bush’s handling of terrorism and Iraq, I think one of his greatest mistakes was the manner in which he mentioned God. For whatever reason, he left the world with the impression that he felt his foreign exploits were based on what he considered some sort of Holy War.

Here is an interesting question. Would an atheist have gotten involved with Iraq?

A side note – one of the questions in the poll asked if one can be both moral and an atheist. The answer to this question depends on the definition of morality. One can define it simply as pertaining to man-made rules, or as pertaining to matters of conscience. If we use the latter definition, which concerns a divine code of conduct, then an atheist cannot logically be moral.

My theory is that instigators of wars always have a moral rationale (wide-ranging in its level of corruption). Either they seek to spread their power because think their way is best, or they feel morally obligated to become involved in what may seem to be an immoral situation.

While I am among those who believe in God, I am also a staunch defender of the separation of church and state, and on a certain level, I think an atheist could make a great defender of a nation. I would be thrilled if we elected a president who vowed to stretch out our military appendages only when our health was at stake.

What is important to understand about this philosophy is that no man is an island. If every man is “a piece of a continent, a part of the main,” as John Donne wrote, then the extent to which a leader finds it necessary to get internationally involved is significantly stretched. What ought to concern us most are the international conflicts caused or sustained by matters of one person’s conscience. When we consider the corrupt leaders of the past and present, we ought to learn that God and foreign policy make lousy bedfellows.

All to say, whether or not we would be willing to elect an atheist as a president is an incredibly thought-provoking question, although I am unconvinced Newsweek was aware of this.

Perhaps we will eventually learn to stop attempting the futile task of psychoanalyzing politicians. I would hope that I’ve helped a few stragglers to learn what an atheist is. And mostly, I hope we all can begin to learn that, although you might not trust an atheist to raise a child, it might not be all that crazy to trust one with a nation.

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