Conventions leave atheists asking: What political party represents me?
2:04 pm - 09/07/2012
Conventions leave atheists asking: What political party represents me?
By Dan Merica, CNN
Washington (CNN) – This convention season has not been good for atheists.
The word "God" was reinserted in the Democratic platform after it had been removed. A plan to raise atheist billboards in the convention cities was stymied by opponents. And though there were preachers and rabbis and other religious leaders opening and closing each day of each convention, there wasn’t an avowed atheist talking up unbelief on either convention’s speaking list.
The political lockout has left many nonbelievers asking, “What political party represents me?”
“We are deeply saddened by the exclusion of a large number of Americans by both parties,” said Teresa MacBain, a spokeswoman for the group American Atheists, in an interview on Thursday. “It amazes me that in modern-day America, so much prejudice still exists.”
After word spread Wednesday that Democrats left God out of their platform, atheists rejoiced. “Truly amazing news,” wrote Loren Miller on Atheist Nexus, a popular atheist blog. “The Republicans remain in the firm grasp of right-wing Christian religiosity, and I really don't know what it's going to take to free them from it.”
But the convention committee immediately received huge pressure get God back in the platform. Even President Obama, according to CNN reporting, said, “Why on earth would that have been taken out?” when he first heard of the omission.
In an awkward session that required three voice votes on the convention floor, the Democrats opted to add “God” back to the platform.
For atheists, the Democrats were seen to be taking away a hard-fought victory. “We had 24 hours of joy as we felt (that) finally our government values all people,” said MacBain. “But that was short-lived. The vote last night angered many atheists and left them feeling excluded once again.”
Online, atheist websites and Facebook pages went from upbeat to downcast as news spread of the platform revision.
“Obama was the first president to acknowledge non believers,” Mark Musante wrote on the American Atheists’ Facebook page. “I wish he would stick to his guns.”
Musante was referring to Obama’s 2009 inauguration speech, when the president said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.”
Beverly Sitherwood, on the Friendly Atheist blog Facebook page, accused the Democrats of “Pandering for power.”
Some atheist leaders used the platform defeat as a rallying call.
“I guess a tiny step was too much to ask for,” David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, told CNN. “This was a clear message to the 16% of the voting population – we don’t count. Well, guess what, Dems – we do. And we vote.”
Silverman says that 16% of the voting public identify as nonbelievers. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 12% of the electorate in 2008 was made up of people with no religious affiliation, though experts say the number of avowed atheists is much smaller.
While acknowledging atheists, Obama has given platforms to high-profile religious leaders, including Rick Warren, a megachurch pastor who prayed at his inauguration, and Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is giving the final prayer of the convention on Thursday night.
American Atheists’ plans to raise billboards ridiculing the presidential candidates’ faith ended in failure. After the group put up billboards in Charlotte, North Carolina, the site of the Democratic National Convention, last month, it quickly removed them due to “physical threats to not only our staff, but the billboard company as well.”
American Atheists had also planned on a billboard in Tampa, Florida, to coincide with the Republican National Convention there. But American Atheists said that all the billboard companies in Tampa rejected a sign taking aim at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith.
Perhaps because of the Republican Party’s ties to conservative Christianity, atheists tend to be Democrats. According to a 2012 Pew study, 71% of Americans who identified as atheist were Democrats.
“The Republicans who spoke at the RNC seemed more like televangelists than politicians,” MacBain said. “The message was clear from the RNC: Get God, or get out.”
The Republican’s 2012 platform mentions God 12 times, many of which describe the “God-given” rights that the Republican Party says are inherent to the American idea.
Though most atheist groups claim that there are closeted atheists serving as representatives and senators, only one has come out as such.
In September 2007, Rep. Pete Stark, Democrat of California, affirmed his atheism in a speech at the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University.
Source: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/0
By Dan Merica, CNN
Washington (CNN) – This convention season has not been good for atheists.
The word "God" was reinserted in the Democratic platform after it had been removed. A plan to raise atheist billboards in the convention cities was stymied by opponents. And though there were preachers and rabbis and other religious leaders opening and closing each day of each convention, there wasn’t an avowed atheist talking up unbelief on either convention’s speaking list.
The political lockout has left many nonbelievers asking, “What political party represents me?”
“We are deeply saddened by the exclusion of a large number of Americans by both parties,” said Teresa MacBain, a spokeswoman for the group American Atheists, in an interview on Thursday. “It amazes me that in modern-day America, so much prejudice still exists.”
After word spread Wednesday that Democrats left God out of their platform, atheists rejoiced. “Truly amazing news,” wrote Loren Miller on Atheist Nexus, a popular atheist blog. “The Republicans remain in the firm grasp of right-wing Christian religiosity, and I really don't know what it's going to take to free them from it.”
But the convention committee immediately received huge pressure get God back in the platform. Even President Obama, according to CNN reporting, said, “Why on earth would that have been taken out?” when he first heard of the omission.
In an awkward session that required three voice votes on the convention floor, the Democrats opted to add “God” back to the platform.
For atheists, the Democrats were seen to be taking away a hard-fought victory. “We had 24 hours of joy as we felt (that) finally our government values all people,” said MacBain. “But that was short-lived. The vote last night angered many atheists and left them feeling excluded once again.”
Online, atheist websites and Facebook pages went from upbeat to downcast as news spread of the platform revision.
“Obama was the first president to acknowledge non believers,” Mark Musante wrote on the American Atheists’ Facebook page. “I wish he would stick to his guns.”
Musante was referring to Obama’s 2009 inauguration speech, when the president said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.”
Beverly Sitherwood, on the Friendly Atheist blog Facebook page, accused the Democrats of “Pandering for power.”
Some atheist leaders used the platform defeat as a rallying call.
“I guess a tiny step was too much to ask for,” David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, told CNN. “This was a clear message to the 16% of the voting population – we don’t count. Well, guess what, Dems – we do. And we vote.”
Silverman says that 16% of the voting public identify as nonbelievers. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 12% of the electorate in 2008 was made up of people with no religious affiliation, though experts say the number of avowed atheists is much smaller.
While acknowledging atheists, Obama has given platforms to high-profile religious leaders, including Rick Warren, a megachurch pastor who prayed at his inauguration, and Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is giving the final prayer of the convention on Thursday night.
American Atheists’ plans to raise billboards ridiculing the presidential candidates’ faith ended in failure. After the group put up billboards in Charlotte, North Carolina, the site of the Democratic National Convention, last month, it quickly removed them due to “physical threats to not only our staff, but the billboard company as well.”
American Atheists had also planned on a billboard in Tampa, Florida, to coincide with the Republican National Convention there. But American Atheists said that all the billboard companies in Tampa rejected a sign taking aim at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith.
Perhaps because of the Republican Party’s ties to conservative Christianity, atheists tend to be Democrats. According to a 2012 Pew study, 71% of Americans who identified as atheist were Democrats.
“The Republicans who spoke at the RNC seemed more like televangelists than politicians,” MacBain said. “The message was clear from the RNC: Get God, or get out.”
The Republican’s 2012 platform mentions God 12 times, many of which describe the “God-given” rights that the Republican Party says are inherent to the American idea.
Though most atheist groups claim that there are closeted atheists serving as representatives and senators, only one has come out as such.
In September 2007, Rep. Pete Stark, Democrat of California, affirmed his atheism in a speech at the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University.
Source: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/0
It would be nice if the language would have been something like those who believe in god, gods or no god at all. I know that's asking a lot in this political environment though.
Also, Cardinal Timothy Dolan should not have delivered it. I do not think he's a good human.
re: the removal of god from the platform, well, I didn't expect that to last for long tbh. Even Democrats can be deeply, rigidly religious and removing god from the platform would likely keep these people at home from the polls.
Anyway, this was just to appease the masses. That probably doesn't make it any easier to swallow, but yeah- it was pragmatism.
Obviously didn't care for the benedictions and invocations.
When he was inaugurated, the President mentioned people without faith in his speech. He pretty much hasn't done that at all after his first year. It's disappointing, but it's politik.
(At the same time, as mentioned in the first comment, I get why the Dems do it since the Repubs spew religious language all over the place and the majority of the country seems to approve.)
I'm Christian, but that's exactly how I felt when I heard they'd taken God out of the platform. It doesn't belong in the platform. I was disappointed when they put it back in. And to be cynical, do they really feel like the kind of people who care would be voting Democratic anyway?
I'm an agnostic from a fairly religious family so maybe my perspective is skewed but is Democrats saying "God" in their speeches really upsetting enough to not vote for them?
Frankly, I identify myself as a student, a woman of color, and a friend and family member to GLBTQ folks far more quickly than I identify myself as a person without religious affiliation, and I'm choosing to vote for Obama on those grounds.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/ob
i mean, not the onion. but what the onion is channeling their story from.
republicans did it because, well, because theyre republicans.
i actually looked for the non-the-onion tag on this post. because for me, i was far more annoyed at the idolization of the middle class, while ignoring the poor and this just felt like a bit of cry-moar.
Edited at 2012-09-07 11:26 pm (UTC)
Repubs, I really expect no better, but come on, Democrats, get it together. I don't feel it's a make-or-break thing, someone having faith, but it's really rude to be non-religious at the beginning of a convention, and then change your mind 1/2 way through. And for what?
I dun geddit. Why is faith or lack of faith such a public thing? I get wanting to find other people who share your views and shit like that, but if the platform talked about, say, bridge club or somesuch, people would be going "O_o". Why is religion any different? When anyone inserts something that shouldn't be part of policy into A POLICY-DISCUSSING DOCUMENT, I headdesk.
Like someone said above, acknowledgement of atheists/non-Christians ranks pretty far down on my list of Democratic party platform must-haves. It's great if it's there, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker if it isn't.
I'm WAY more upset about rampant militarism and corporatism in this country & still invading the democratic party, but even those come second (at the moment) to seeing the democratic party finally get on ball with being unequivocally pro-choice, pro-women, and pro-lgbt.
Welp, about the one that doesn't shove its own religion down everyone's throats and base copious amounts of legislation on it? It's not really a hard choice for me as an atheist, tbh. I don't care if Democrats in power are religious. I start caring when their right to freedom of religion starts infringing on my right to...well, anything, really. So far, the GOP has proven that they have zero issues infringing on non-fundamentalist Christians' rights. While I would be thrilled if the Democrats removed the word God from their platform (and stopped saying "God bless America", which makes me cringe), I'll settle for them not treating me as a second-class citizen because I don't believe what they do. Actions speak louder than words and all that.
Side note: I didn't know one of my reps was an atheist. That's awesome!
Lol it doesn't surprise me.
“I guess a tiny step was too much to ask for,” David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, told CNN. “This was a clear message to the 16% of the voting population – we don’t count. Well, guess what, Dems – we do. And we vote.”
I vote too, and I'm still voting for Obama. He acknowledge atheists after he was elected, and he probably won't risk it again until he is 100% sure that he is voted in again because of the last kerfuffle his mention of atheists brought. It sucks that the Dems have to pander to the religious in order to get votes, and it really grates my nerves that they have to bring God onto the platform when he has no business being there, but this is America, so I'm not surprised. Annoyed, but not surprised.
That alone makes the choice clear to me.