On 9 March 2010 15:47, Carvalho <[email protected]> wrote: > That is exactly what I am saying. By admitting he is > an atheist, he is has alienated himself from the > Catholic vote bank.
This is not necessarily the case. I am more suspicious of how atheists/agnostics play on other people's sense of religiosity for political purposes. Jinnah was a non-believer. So is Advani. If not mistaken, Parrikar isn't too much into religiosity either. Salazar was a bad man but a good Catholic [http://www.goacom.com/culture/history/church.html]. Being irreligious oneself does not make one either (i) unacceptable to religious people (ii) immune to playing the politics of religion. These days, being irreligious can be fashionable. I think the true test is how tolerant we are to the views and beliefs of others, even when these challenge our own strongly, rather than just claiming we are "secular", "agnostic" or "atheist". FN
