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Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Non-christians go to hell?
Date: Tuesday, 11 Jul 1989 20:06:01 EDT
Organization: North Carolina State University - Computing Center
From: Wayne Aiken 

In article <835@mmsac.UUCP>, bob@mmsca.UUCP (Bob Brown) asks:
>could you please provide a source for the President saying that he
>thought Non-Christians were second class citizens and not be allowed
>to vote.  I'm kind of interested in following this a bit further.

The quote was in a short confrontation between George Bush and Robert I.
Sherman during the media interview at O'Hare International Airport on
August 27, 1988.  Bush was there in Chicago as part of his campaign.  The
exchange was as follows:

  Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who
           are Atheists?

  Bush:  : I guess I'm pretty weak in the Atheist community.  Faith in God
           is important to me.

  Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of
           Americans who are Atheists?

  Bush   : No, I don't think that Atheists should be considered as citizens,
           nor should they be considered patriots.  This is one nation under
           God.

  Sherman: Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation
           of state and church?

  Bush   : Yes, I support the separation of church and state.  I'm just not
           very high on Atheists.

So, there you have it.  The person who holds the highest office of the land,
who is sworn to uphold the Constitution, supports a religious qualification
for citizenship.  This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the approx.
9% of this country who are Atheists, including many Veterans.  Bush has been
asked repeatedly to either clarify his remarks or apologize, but he has so
far either ignored or dodged the issue.


Wayne Aiken               netoprwa@ncsuvm.bitnet          "Or kill me"
PO Box 30904              netoprwa@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu          --"Bob"
Raleigh, NC  27622        StarFleet BBS
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