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the GOP is going extict

let's face it, the highly religious, the ones we here have the biggest problem with, is the base of the Republican Party. given this, news of its imminent demise should thrill most Atheists. and make no mistake, barring a gargantuan shift in policies and rhetoric, they are absolutely on the path towards extinction.

it's common knowledge that the GOP is an old, white party. while not an absolute, that is an accurate enough description of the Republican Party today. two trends to keep in mind here. one, old people tend to die at a faster rate than young people. two, white people are shrinking as a percentage of the electorate. they are running out of supporters, and it's happening quicker than many thought.

take yesterday's election. President Obama won over 90% of the black vote and 70% of the latino and asian vote. Romney did well with seniors and whites overall. meanwhile, the country is getting browner. the GOP may end up becoming a whites only club, a nativist and pale collection of isolationists who choose to ignore the changing demographics of the country. worse, they may choose to keep it this way. if they choose this path, their extinction is all but guaranteed. their option would be to abandon their social issues, immigration policies, and economic austery programs and to open up their tent through real policy change.

anyone wanna bet which way they go?

for Atheists, either way is a win. if the GOP becomes irrelevant then the power of the religious right goes with it. if they truly make changes to make more people inclusive and begin to part with their religious base Atheists will celebrate. yesterday's election is better for Atheists than most people would think.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on November 19, 2012 at 1:30am

Jim, if I hadn't just found this thread I would have replied sooner.

If you're thinking wealth redistribution is the major driving principle of only the Dem Party, you haven't paying attention.

Both parties see taxpayers as a huge piggie bank and they both redistribute to their campaign contributors.

Without campaign finance reform, the Greens and other small parties, if given power, will do the same.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on November 8, 2012 at 1:27pm

Loren, I think it's hysterical that idiots accuse President Obama of being a Muslim, when in all probability, he's an Atheist. I wonder which scares them more?

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Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on November 8, 2012 at 1:29pm

great question. i think they're more scared of atheists, but just barely. at least muslims believe in some of their supernatural nonsense. they just picked wrong. we reject their whole premise, which is terrifying to them.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on November 8, 2012 at 1:43pm

Yes, I've read several times that Atheists are the last people that religious people would ever vote for. We scare the 'hell' out of them. And GEE, we're all such bad people! ;)

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on November 19, 2012 at 1:37am

booklover, a recent poster at Think Atheist says a survey has shown that religious people trust atheists and rapists the least.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 8, 2012 at 1:40pm

I think what REALLY scares them is that errant thought in the back of their head, telling them that they've been HAD, that it's all a con game that never quite made sense, but that they swallowed because of the fear of death, of hell, of the disapproval of their fellows. I suspect that at some level they've recognize that they've been faking it, but can't own up to that.

These are people who have an exceptionally difficult time dealing with OTHERS, someone not like them, different background, culture, religion, at least in part because there were never any OTHERS around them growing up, and they lived in a culture which said that their culture was IT, that it was the best, that everyone else were a bunch of heathens or savages, not good enough for THEIR culture.

They are developmentally and culturally STUNTED ... and in the immortal words of West Side Story, "depraved on account of they're deprived."

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on November 19, 2012 at 1:55am

Loren, having grown up in a fundie environment, I cast a vote for fear motivating religious folk.

Does anyone not know fear as they grow up?

Religious leaders, instead of helping followers cope with their fears, use fear to manipulate them.

While they fear, when things fail, they can blame their leaders.

To lose fear, they have to stop blaming others and adapt to the world.

My evidence? The above is a short autobiography.

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Permalink Reply by Claudia Dunham on November 20, 2012 at 10:03pm

... that they swallowed because of the fear of death, of hell, of the disapproval of their fellows.

....

These are people who have an exceptionally difficult time dealing with OTHERS, someone not like them, different background, culture, religion, at least in part because there were never any OTHERS around them growing up, and they lived in a culture which said that their culture was IT, that it was the best...

Two good points. And both things are motivated by fear. Fear of hell, fear of others, fear of those other heathens and savages somehow causing them to go to hell...

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dodds on November 10, 2012 at 1:40pm

So what evidence do you have of this?

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on November 8, 2012 at 4:11pm

Why do so many on here assume Obama is an atheist?

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Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on November 8, 2012 at 4:16pm

my guess - his mom was an atheist (i think), and he didn't adopt a religion until he decided to run for office. plus he's really smart, and he mentioned non-believers in his inauguration speech. also maybe some wishful thinking.