Not In My Lifetime

[sleigh]

Until recently, I really didn't think that there was a chance in hell that I would see a black man as president of our country. I'm looking forward to seeing that historic moment today.

And hopefully, if I live long enough, I might see a few other firsts:

-- A woman elected president (as long as it's not Sarah Palin, please...). That, I think, is conceivable. Hillary Clinton's run for the nomination, and (I must admit) the choice of Palin as McCain's running mate have hopefully been enough to break down the barriers that Geraldine Ferraro first assaulted back in '84.

-- An openly gay person elected president. I suspect that one may have to wait a long, long time...

-- An openly non-Christian elected president. My preference would be for an openly agnostic or atheist, which I think is the one with the least chance. I suspect that a Jewish president is most conceivable. A Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. is nearly on a par with an agnostic or atheist.

What barrier(s) would you like to see broken in the future? What do you think the chances are?

Comments

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

In the current situation, an open atheist has zero chance of getting elected to higher office. The religious right has spent the last couple of decades convincing people that god matters in politics. It would be very difficult to put forth an atheist candidate who didn't immediately draw attacks on that basis alone.

Even moderate people are suspicious of open atheists in many quarters of this country. The common though seems to be Those atheists must be a bunch of amoral folks, because they don't have the guidance of a religious structure to help them make moral evaluations!

If we ever see a day when muckraking is considered Very Bad Indeed, then perhaps it would be possible for a private atheist to sneak past the gates. An, as you say, small-a atheist would quickly be colored a capital-A Atheist by any candidate who wasn't too proud to sling mud.

[cathshaffer.livejournal.com]

The religious right doesn't like atheists, it's true. And of course the religious right has absolute control of the white house. That's why Barack Obama is there right now, darling of the Christian Coalition that he is...