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.?
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.
From the dozen Unitarian gatherings I’ve been to,It seems their prominent message is “Can’t we all just get along”. Theres a definatly a “wacky new age” element to it. I dont think they would approve of any suicidal “Heavens Gate” behavior. Some are strict logic and science types. So when you hear unitarian it can mean almost anything.
As an atheist and someone who attends UU services I completely understand why he goes. It’s a very liberal religious education. God is mentioned but most times it’s not anything connected to the bible. We have a UU xian group and I have no idea what they talk about in their meetings. There are some new age loons I’m sure but I don’t know any in my congregation. We had a open house for vendors one time and someone was there with a massage table and special rocks for soothing. I didn’t see anyone use that vendor or his services. Every UU I know embraces humanist values and thinks evolution is a fact. I’m unaware of any “supernatural” or “wacky” beliefs, just humanist values. I’ve yet to meet a fundy there in my 3 years of attendance.
Any more questions are welcomed.
Phreedm
I don’t mean to speak for Spanders, but good grief. He is a member of United Church of Christ, not Unitarian Universalist. Big difference.
Your listening skills could use some improvement.
Reason,
No prob. and no it wasn’t a stupid question.
Flying Weasel,
Gay people can deny and suppress their feelings like Ted Haggard did, but they will always be there no matter how much in denial a person is.
Religion is more of an acquired trait whereby we know there’s no god but people choose to believe there is anyway. I happen to believe in science, that is my supreme autority and no I wouldn’t go back to believing in an invisible man in the sky. But I was trying to explain the “coming out” process and the difference between coming out gay and coming out atheist.
phreedm said:
phreedm is a dumbass said:
As well as your reading comprehension skills, phreedm.
Hmm… Looks like not all Silvermans are heathens:
http://tinyurl.com/34v6ft
But you do have a point.
sorry about being away from the blog(WEATHER and LAZINESS).Anyway,when I heard abot PETE STARK,I just had to say DUDE WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG.YOU ROCK PETE.
I took a look at Netscape’s homepage today and they are discussing this topic. It some ways it’s similar to what is said here, but the atheists are in the minority. The few atheists that are on there make some good and concise arguments. As you know, I’m not an atheist, but I do appreciate you taking the time to help me get an idea of where you come from.
Check it out on:
http://religion.netscape.com/story/2007/03/14/rep-stark-applauded-for-atheist-outlook/#comments
Also, Elaine Pagels was just on NPR talking about the book of Judas. Fascinating stuff. I love Elaine Pagels. If you’re interested, you can check it out here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8892042
Rainbows, yes, I go to a United Church of Christ. Thanks for the correction. I haven’t been on the site much lately as I’m just nutty busy.
By the way, do you know anyone who does search engine optimization? I’m doing some work for Planned Parenthood and I’m having a tough time finding someone who will do the work.
Thanks!