Posted on 09/19/2005 11:21:03 PM PDT by Crackingham
Americans who don't believe in God have decided it's time they had a lobbyist in the nation's capital. Their new advocate describes herself as a "soft, fuzzy atheist." Lori Lipman Brown starts Monday as executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Her two goals: keep religion out of government and win respect for a stigmatized minority. The magnitude of those challenges is, well, biblical. Think Daniel entering the lion's den, or David taking on Goliath.
Christian conservatives wield enormous clout here through a network of advocacy groups and relationships with politicians from President Bush on down. Atheists, humanists and freethinkers, as Brown's constituents call themselves, are usually ignored. Is she scared? "Nah," says Brown, 47, an atheist with a Jewish background. "It feels good to be the first."
Brown likens atheists today to gays in the 1970s: people just coming out of the closet to fight for acceptance. "There's been so much rhetoric in the past decade about how important religion is to being a good person," she says, that "it's been scary" for people to say they don't believe in God. She vows to "use the A-word and not cringe."
In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 11% said they do not believe in God but do believe in a "universal spirit" or "higher power"; 3% said they do not believe in God or a spirit or power. In a separate question, 1% said they are atheists (those who believe there is no God), 2% said they are agnostics (those unsure whether there is a God), and 11% said they have no religious preference. The no-preference category includes people "who may not be ready to declare themselves atheists or agnostics," Pew Director Andrew Kohut says.
Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, counts them as non--believers - part of "a 30-million-strong constituency that is informed about the issues and votes."
Brown plans to work for non-believers in three ways:
• As part of broad coalitions fighting policies rooted in religious beliefs, such as limits on stem cell research and access to emergency contraception.
• In alliances with groups opposed to policies they believe breach the wall between church and state, such as giving taxpayer money to "faith-based" service programs.
• On causes Brown concedes are hard for politicians and the public to swallow, such as eliminating references to God from the U.S. oath of citizenship. She plans to stay out of the Pledge of Allegiance controversy for now because "the courts are on our side." Last week, a federal judge reaffirmed an earlier ruling that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge's phrase "under God" in public schools is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.
Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative and former presidential candidate who now lobbies against gay marriage and for conservative values, says atheists' timing couldn't be worse, given Hurricane Katrina. "We're right in the middle of a horrible event when people are turning to God," he says. "They're going to find it very hard to get people to vote for the sort of things they're in favor of."
Brown says she doesn't expect immediate success on tough issues but, as the only advocate for non--believers in Washington, it's her job to raise them.
"We want to get people thinking about what they do that excludes us," she says. "The things that ... perpetuate the idea that we are outsiders - that we can't be patriotic or that we can't be moral or ethical - when in reality our community is tremendously active in making the world a better place to live."
Good Heavens!
Oh, excuse me,...I mean... Neutral Cosmos!
Why limit yourselves to fighting policies (rooted in religious beliefs) such as limits on stem cell research and access to emergency contraception?
What about other policies rooted in religious beliefs?
Such as that ban on killing the old and infirm? Or the ban on infanticide? Or the religious-based ban on incest?
I mean, if you want to fight policies rooted in religious beliefs, let's go all the way!
One of the interesting ironies of today is that the people protesting the current "system", would be the first against the wall if that system ever fell. If we were truly an atheistic country, many of the leftists would already be dead or in camps for dissenting with the government.
Of course many of us Christians would be there also.
Freedom from religion does not equal freedom of religion.
If the students at Blissful Valley school stand up and say the pledge of allegiance with "under God" there is no reason why an atheistic kid can't skip those words. That will never be heard by the kid in the next seat unless said kid is trying to make a spectacle of himself. Hell, we made up words all through High School to everything - the Star Spangled Banner, the pledge, the Lord's Prayer - you name it. Nobody in authority said a word to us but we did it to attract attention from our peers and thought we were the smartest kids ever.
But when professional atheists come in and force the removal of words or rituals the opportunity to be reverent - or not - is removed. Instead of the atheist smugly "being true to himself" the legal prcoess is invoked and everybody in the organization loses the unifying force of the ritual.
Here goes the concept of rights:
The first atheist state was first to put separation of church and state into Constitution and first to build the huge concentration camp system - the Gulag.
No God - no rights.
Trotsky was there earlier.
These lobbying groups have big budgets, often lifted from the contributions of orthodox Christians who believe that they are contributing to such worthwhile efforts as alleviating hunger and disaster relief. Atheists need not waste their money.
The ones who need effective lobbying groups are orthodox catholic Christians. That especially applies to Orthodox Christians, in particular Serbs who are demonized left and right by the Congress, as they pass measures to further oppress the Serbian homeland. But even Evangelical Orthodox and evangelical catholic Lutherans and Anglicans get a raw deal in the area of public affairs, being eclipsed by liberal protestant/secularists and the protestant right.
The "Atheists" aren't lobbying for anything but the retraction of free speech laws. They are anti-Firsters.
I know. But still the majority of Americans, if not church going Christains, still believe in God. If it becomes a party issue, the Republicans will peel away alot of Dem voters. As long as atheism stays hidden, they think they can vote Dem, but if it becomes an issue, that will change. Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. LOL
I gather you are an atheist.
I take this people as seriously as the local Dungeons and Dragons pool in the MIS department.
Moral Absolutes Ping.
"Soft, fuzzy atheist" - kind of like some kinds of caterpillars that are fuzzy but the fuzz is very prickly...
She talks as though God hating is a novel political goal. What does she think the ACLU has been actively doing all these years? What a lie, that atheists don't have a "voice" and aren't influential. Trying to make herself and other atheists sound like helpless widdle victims.
It's actually the opposite situation. The tiny number of atheists is attempting (and has for quite some time) to oppress the freedom of expression of those who believe in God (the vast majority).
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
Her two goals: keep religion out of government , i.e. other people's religions.
Maybe someday they will find the all encompassing peace of the Lord.
Well, whudayaknow! An Evangelical atheist! Wonder if she plans to have any big-tent revivals near here?
Just like you wouldn't mind it a whit if the school had them pledging allegiance to Allah...a Christian kid can just skip those words...right?
Agreed...though we both know that the masses can put on blinders quite easily.
Quite a few have given their lives, which might not mean much to you if you believe in an afterlife, but it seems like it would hold great meaning to one who doesn't believe--he's giving it ALL.
Okay - let me rephrase. Which great atheist LEADERS have done anything for America? And remember, there are no atheists in foxholes.
"Just like you wouldn't mind it a whit if the school had them pledging allegiance to Allah...a Christian kid can just skip those words...right?"
Our little two room school in the 1950s required the kiddies to sing "Lord, I Want to Be A Christian" every morning after Bible reading. My daddy objected (he was a Jew) and fortunately the teacher was sensible enough to use it as a 'teaching moment' for a classroom full of Polish and Italian Catholics who had no idea there were JEWS in New York State. Teacher and Daddy came to an understanding and another hymn was substituted -- still Christian but not quite so evangelical.
Agnostic here, although I suspect you don't see much of a distinction.
Actually, I don't believe in atheists. Everyone believes in a supreme being
I'm so glad you're here to tell me what I believe.
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