Did anyone see Ron Reagan Jr on Larry King Live?

[Number Six]

When Larry asked him if he'd ever consider running for public office, RR Jr went into a speech like "No, I"m not cut out for that" and then during it blurted out "I'm an athiest" as another reason he wouldn't do it, the point of course being that since he's an athiest he's pretty much disqualified from being elected anyway.

And then later in the program when talking about stem cell research, RR Jr mentioned (paraphrasing) about how people that deny the good it can do are like the people that deny evolution and then said that there were some people in the current administration that deny evolution too.

It's rare that I hear someone on TV proclaim non-belief or say point blank that people that poo-poo evolution are ridiculous and yet RR Jr did them both in the space of 30 minutes.

[Brown]

My opinion of Ron Reagan Jr. has changed over the years.

I used to ridicule him (often rather cruelly). He seemed to me an untalented weirdo who was trying to get by on his name rather than his ability.

Over the years, however, I have found him to be more intelligent, talented, articulate and "normal" than I had previously thought. His eulogy of his father was reportedly the best of the eulogies.

[Snide]

I thought he was an atheist. [/smart aleck]

[Mr Manifesto]

Has America ever had an atheist president?

[Theodore Kurita]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
Has America ever had an atheist president?

Nope.

The closest thing we have ever had was Thomas Jefferson, and he was a Deist.

[mjv]

Originally posted by Brown
My opinion of Ron Reagan Jr. has changed over the years.

I used to ridicule him (often rather cruelly). He seemed to me an untalented weirdo who was trying to get by on his name rather than his ability.

No, no, you're thinking of Michael Reagan.

[Cain]

Originally posted by Number Six
When Larry asked him if he'd ever consider running for public office, RR Jr went into a speech like "No, I"m not cut out for that" and then during it blurted out "I'm an athiest" as another reason he wouldn't do it, the point of course being that since he's an athiest he's pretty much disqualified from being elected anyway.

And then later in the program when talking about stem cell research, RR Jr mentioned (paraphrasing) about how people that deny the good it can do are like the people that deny evolution and then said that there were some people in the current administration that deny evolution too.

It's rare that I hear someone on TV proclaim non-belief or say point blank that people that poo-poo evolution are ridiculous and yet RR Jr did them both in the space of 30 minutes.

I wonder if religious conservatives will say Ronald Reagan succeeded as a president, but failed as a father. His son is a godless Bush-basher who wants to murder soul-bearing embryos and indoctrinate your children with the belief that humans are descendents of monkeys.

[toddjh]

Originally posted by Theodore Kurita
Nope.

The closest thing we have ever had was Thomas Jefferson, and he was a Deist.

That we know of. I'm not convinced that the majority of politicians actually believe the religious rhetoric they have to say as a requirement of getting elected. I wouldn't be surprised if we've had at least a handful of atheist presidents.

Jeremy

[Brown]

Originally posted by mjv
No, no, you're thinking of Michael Reagan. Ha, ha! No, my opinion of Michael Reagan has been basically unchanged over the years. Originally posted by toddjh
I'm not convinced that the majority of politicians actually believe the religious rhetoric they have to say as a requirement of getting elected. I wouldn't be surprised if we've had at least a handful of atheist presidents.It has been argued that John Kennedy was a closet atheist or agnostic. (Prediction: the same sort of arguments will be asserted about Bill Clinton within a few years.) Richard Nixon identified himself as a Quaker, but he felt no need to give any weight to religious matters until he was about to be impeached, and then he shocked Henry Kissinger by asking Kissinger to pray with him.

By the way, Thomas Jefferson was not the only deist in the White House. George Washington and John Adams (according to sources) held deist or deist-type beliefs that would have struck today's "religious right" as bizarre, heretical or pagan.

[Skeptic]

Originally posted by Brown
My opinion of Ron Reagan Jr. has changed over the years.

I used to ridicule him (often rather cruelly). He seemed to me an untalented weirdo who was trying to get by on his name rather than his ability.

Over the years, however, I have found him to be more intelligent, talented, articulate and "normal" than I had previously thought. His eulogy of his father was reportedly the best of the eulogies.

The problem is that if you're the president's son, how can you prove that ANYTHING you do is your own doing and not daddy's help?