I’d rather have an atheist as an elected representative in government than a devout person, because if the atheist is going to make trouble, it’ll almost certainly be towards personal gain or, at worst, deliberate treason; both are detectable and can be punished, and perhaps even remedied.
But the devout? He or she will vote for a bill because God or his pastor or the Party has told him to do it. He doesn’t examine the bill, he doesn’t consider conflicting analyses, because he’s learned, he’s conditioned, by his “spiritual experiences,” to believe and have faith that this is a good law. And if it’s a piece of harmful junk, there’s no real recourse, no restitution, not even, in many cases, a lesson learned. “Because God willed it” conceals a multitude of sins.
And that’s what we are seeing these days.
Every legislator should view every bill that crosses her desk with deep skepticism and demand the author of the bill, or their delegates, make the case for it and to be convincing – and, it should go without saying, have those against it also make their case.
And if it’s a close case, vote against.
