There is only one member of Congress who is on record as not holding a god-belief. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org ). Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee. Although the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, the Coalition?s research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in the history of the Congress. Recent polls show that Americans without a god-belief are, as a group, more distrusted than any other minority in America. Surveys show that the majority of Americans would not vote for an atheist for president even if he or she were the most qualified for the office. Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, attributes these attitudes to the demonization of people who don?t believe in God. ?The truth is,? says Silverman, ?the vast majority of us follow the Golden Rule and are as likely to be good citizens, just like Rep. Stark with over 30 years of exemplary public service. The only way to counter the prejudice against nontheists is for more people to publicly identify as nontheists. Rep. Stark shows remarkable courage in being the first member of Congress to do so.?
I sent him a very polite note of gratitude for openly expressing his nontheistic stance. Not an easy thing to do when in public office.
http://www.house.gov/stark/contact/index.htm
I just sent Pete a big thank you email. I will call him later. Yipee!
I have sent Pete Stark a letter of thanks and congratulations via his contact page.
Will there now be more public office holders willing to “come out of the closet”?
I can only hope so.
Kudos also to the Secular Coalition for America, for conceiving and implementing the contest idea. It’s way past time non-believers in this country stood up and demanded to be counted.
After reading Suzanne Fields editorial in today’s Washington Times,
(Ref.: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070311-091129-5746r.htm
I was quite ticked off by her atheists need not apply, and they better suck up to the theists if they want to run for office views.
Congressman Stark demonstrably proves she is full of shit.
This announcement is a step in the right direction. Looking at the biography section of Pete Stark’s website, however, I am interested in the fact that he was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Starr King School for the Ministry. I don’t know the timeframe when he was a board member, and perhaps his views have changed since then?
The school’s online catalog states that it “educates people for religious leadership through: … loving God, others and self” and that it accomplishes this purpose through, among other things: “praying in common within various worship services”
So….I wouldn’t exactly call this guy a hard-core atheist if this is the sort of organization he supports(?)
Still, I must say that it is exceedingly positive for a Congressman to have “acknowledged his nontheism.”
Good for him! It will be interesting to see where the people go with this. I have lost several very close “friends” since I lost my Christian faith. I am an atheist now.
I just sent him a short e-mail praising his honesty and courage.
His homepage has no mention of his coming out as an atheist. Maybe I’m just not seeing it.
Good news though.
Wow, he is only one district away from me. Interesting.
“Coming out” as an Atheist is hard.
How many times has someone said “You’re going to Hell!” in response to finding out that you’re an Atheist? Even if he’s not screaming it from the roof tops, this is still a very positive step for American Atheists, because, the more people who know us and are able to see that we aren’t evil people, the less likely we are to be the unknown villian.
Kudos Congressman!
Simon,
You think coming out as an atheist was hard? I did it so long ago but I really don’t remember more than a couple of moderatley negative remarks and I find that people now react neutrally or even positivley after they find out I’m a nonbeliever. You might be shocked at how many other people you know are also atheists but are afraid to speak out and are just waiting for someone to let them know that it’s ok.
Rep. Pete Stark is a Northern California Democrat so I can’t imagine that his constituency will react too negativley but I also recognise that he is very brave for publicly stating his atheism, or “nontheism”. Perhaps this will open the door for all of the other closeted government officials that are surely out there.
alexatheist what was harder for you coming out as gay,realizing you weren’t heterosexual or coming out as atheist.
Still waiting for the “Xtian Fundie backlash”…
They’re probably waiting for the sabbath to use their bully pulpits.
cascadia why don’t you ask the gov’t agent who reads your e-mail he might know what the preachers plan on doing.
It would be much more interesting if the Congressman gave his reasons for his worldview. Maybe his parents were nontheists and that is why he is a nonbeliever??
Reason,
Coming out as gay was so incredibly more difficult than coming out as a an atheist that the two don’t even rate anywhere near to each other.
So is this Pete Stark going to be interviewed by a news programme about his nontheism? or just the announcement on secular.org which nobody is going to see? Where is MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, or even Fox News? I haven’t seen it on any of the news websites.
I sent him a thank you. I am curious if he made this comment realizing who he was speaking to and not expecting this to hit the big Media. When a man runs for office he had a different speech for each group he addresses. Most of this never makes a wave. You tell the VFW that veterans are the most important concern in his heart, and then tell the businessmen that the economy is the most important thing in your heart. He may not believe that the big media looks at any freethinking, skeptical or atheist sources. We shall see if people do notice.
Regarding the Suzanne Fields article, you can read more (and contact her) here:
http://tinyurl.com/24hfzx
She sounds like a pompous religious ass to me. People like her deserve to be taken down a peg or two, and realize that living in a free country doesn’t mean we have to conform to her view of what’s appropriate.
Timmy
“It would be much more interesting if the Congressman gave his reasons for his worldview.”
Don’t you really mean his atheism?
alexatheist said:
most of us who come out as atheists do so because we don’t feel so pressured, I’m sure many or most of us came from pretty liberal/nonreligous backgrounds and had social networks outside the church.
for some people, practically every friend they have is in their church, their parents may be devoutly religous or they may have children and worry that people will label them poor parents themselves. to some people, atheism is as bad or worse than homosexuality, it can be just as hard to come out, particularly for someone in the public eye.
kudos to the good congressman stark, I’ll be sending him a letter of appreciation for his action.
If it was any other state, I’d say that Rep. Stark just commited political suicide. I think he might have a shot at re-election from California though. Hopefully he decides to run again, and hopefully more atheist people follow him. He just recieved 500 dangerman points for that.
Personally I think you’ve all been had…
Odd that the response is not printed…
Here is what’s printed about Stark’s religous beliefs…
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400387
Alex…I’m curious…which came first…coming out about your atheism or coming out about your homosexuality?
Personally I think you might be right. At least I’d like to see some verification before sending in congratulations.
I guess I’m reserving judgment on this one.
Phreedm,
Unitarian Universalism has always been the traditional haven for non-theism in America. Many politicians throughout American history have hidden their heresy behind the thin veil of the UU church.
From the UUA website:
His religious affiliation does not surprise me at all. In fact, I see it as verification.
Verification here, via today’s LA times, re Pete Stark’s non-belief in the god idea:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-atheist13mar13,0,6065304.story?track=mostviewed-homepage
phreedm would be well advised to educate himself better on Unitarian Universalism before commenting.
I’ve attended several services at a couple of different UU churches, although I cannot become a member because I think that to do so would be hypocritical of me. That said, UU is the only church I’ve ever attended after my own personal acknowledgement of being an atheist, that I’ve ever been comfortable with. Many other atheists might also find UU to be acceptable, if they still wish a church-like affiliation and fellowship to be a part of their lives.
Celebrant Prince,
Thanks for the verification. A quoted email from “Godless Pete” states :
Further verification(?)
The Huffington Post has linked the LA Times:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/03/13/congressman-says-he-doesn_n_43293.html
HeathenZ: ready yet to make up your mind? Stark needs your support, methinks. Now that it’s on MSM, I’m expecting Stark to be excoriated by the Republican/Religious Right hate-machine.
There is an article in the Washington Post about Stark comparing him to EO Wilson, Dennet, Vonnegut and Pinker. I don’t think we have been had.
Correction: Only the photographs in the print version visually relate him to those named above. Here is a link.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031300750.html
link got cut off, add .html to the end
Celebrant Prince,
One piece of verification was enough to assuage my doubts. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. Nice to see that this is being taken up in the press.
I see Stark’s godless stand has already been added to him wikipedia page.
Not that that will impress those here who eschew wikipedia for its alleged lack of veracity.
Ohhhh to live in a time when it will be COOL to be atheist. I can hope…
Wouldn’t it be great if other closet atheists in government would see that the canary hasn’t been killed and that the coast is clear to own up to what they are.
phreedum,
I came out as an atheist at about age fourteen or so and as gay at around age nineteen. Being an open atheist was easier becasue my family were non religious but they still were concerned that some redneck might not take too kindly to my atheism so they asked me to keep it to myself. Coming out as gay was more difficult because it is more intimate than my religious beliefs and I did not have the support of having gay parents who shared a common experience. Also my parents were dissapointed about not having grandchildren and were worried that some redneck xian would gay bash me. They are totally comfortable now with it and have integrated it into their lives. Me and my brother have both included our boyfriends into family holidays and visits back home. Religion impacts my life as a gay man more than it does as an atheist and this negative influence and my anger is why I despise religion and fight so openly with it. My anger has radicalised me and I will fight to my last breath against religious tyranny in peoples private lives.
alexatheist, phreedum, reason:
There is a major difference in coming out as gay and coming out as atheist. Any intelligent person knows that being gay is something that’s not chosen whereas people can choose religions as they please even if they’re born into them. I think the problem lies with what our over-religious paranoid society thinks about the two. In this case, the majority of religious people will have a hard time accepting someone gay or atheist or both but would have a much harder time accepting atheists because most conservatives think homosexuality is an “condition” that can be cured. Since atheists and gays are frequently a target from conservatives, we have it pretty bad and having to come out twice in very different circumstances is emotionally draining.
Digi,
Everyday life as a gay man is emotionally draining, even if you are out and unashamed. Everyday we have to contend with ignorance and bigotry which is usually justified by religion-Anne Coulter using the word “faggot” at the Republican convention, the Pentagon’s top general saying that we are immoral (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_gays;_ylt=At8EOj7vAB58XfxDajA1tG3MWM0F), or the fact that every day that I live as an American citizen I am reminded that I do not share fully in the rights that all other citizens have including prisoners and illeagle immigrants. Is it any wonder that gays have out of control substance abuse problems, depression, and suicide rates? Some days I just wake up tired and wondering what the point of going through a daily routine is because of all of it. The hate and prejudice, and especially the self hatred of so many fellow gays, can really wear me down.
What is it about these Silverman guys?
David is Communications Director for American Atheists & Herb is president of the Secular Coalition for America.
Those Silverman guys – godless heathens, the lot of them!
Don’t forget Sarah Silverman! HerComedy Central show is too funny and blasphemous too.
You’re right! I’m changing my name to Pixel Silverman!
alexatheist thanks for answering my question.digital i know my question sounded stupid to some but in my rural area i have no doubt that atheists are seen as worse than gays.
many people still see atheists as communists who want to take away the family farm.this country will give rights to gays because they aren’t see as a economic threat, atheists are seen as a economic threat by the churches.
digital-eyes said:
I disagree, just as many gay people are able to suppress (not “cure”, suppress) their sexuality and pretend to be straight, many people who have problems with their religion simply suppress or ignore their doubts. this is not the same as being able to “choose” whether or not you beleive in god. you may be able to choose which religion you want to be a part of, but I think many here would agree with me when I say that although you can pretend to beleive, you can’t really choose to go back once the needle has swung around to disbeleif.
Comment from: Celebrant Prince
Ah yes…he should…and thanks for falling right in line…
Spanders…don’t you attend a Unitarian church…?
Comment from: FlyingWeasel
Are you saying…if one is rasied with a believing family, and then that individual chooses not to believe, that they can not go back to believing?
Yah we Silvermans could have a dynasty! Don’t forget Carl! The three of us form the Unholy Silverman Trinity!
Three Silverman Atheist Activists, in three different organizations. Makes for confusing emails.
Oh yeah… none of us are related. Not even Sarah (although she could be my sister)
Does anybody know any goos xtian or god jokes?
goos => good
King Of All Douchebags said:[Are you saying...if one is rasied with a believing family, and then that individual chooses not to believe, that they can not go back to believing?]
For once, I agree with you, phreedumb. Delusion is a two way street, you can delude yourself into believing The Boogie Man in the Sky as well as you can enlighten yourself out of it, ya big dummy!
I don’t think Unitarians follow any established dogma. I am told they can believe nearly anything. Including: ghosts, herbalism, self-healing, psychics. I do not believe they have any rules about belief in any creator/god, some may believe and some don’t. A belief in god is not commanded from the church leaders or doctrine, but there are no laws against belief in such an animal(god). I personally see them as wacky new age loons. Kind of like that crazy group of UFO believers and their replacement of god with aliens. I can’t remember the name they use. I do not think Unitarians are concerned about scientific truth or evidence. They are more concerned with replacing the old wacky beliefs with new ones. If I am wrong and there are Unitarians on the blog, let me know. I am curious.