The Myth That Atheists are Unelectable
So there is a new Pew Research Poll that once again shows that people don’t want to elect atheists to public office. This is nothing new. We already know that we are the most distrusted minority. However, I am still going to call BULLSHIT!
Look, there is no doubt that there is discrimination against atheists. When 80 to 90 percent of the nation believe in god, it is pretty obvious that we have a disadvantage. Still, different districts are… well, different. A large number of religious believers care more about political parties than they do about religious belief or lack of beliefs. So yeah, in some districts an atheist will have a harder time in than they would in other districts. But this might also have more to do with whether the atheist is a Democrat or Republican.
I bet that if Ayn Rand were alive today, she would have no problem getting elected even in the most fundamentally religious districts. While that is speculation, it based on the fact that Ron Paul named his son after her and he got elected anyway and that Congressman Paul Ryan practically worships her and he has a great deal of support from the religious despite this fact.
Still, there are districts in this country that are pretty liberal and there are districts in this country in which most people care more about political affiliation than they do about religious belief or lack of belief.
When atheists have decided that we can’t get elected, we not only don’t try to get elected we also don’t help out those who are trying. There are more atheists then there are Jews in this country. There may even be more atheists then there are gays. If we all supported an openly atheist candidate, we could get an atheist elected. But if we keep telling ourselves that it can’t happen, then we don’t support openly atheist candidates and they won’t win.
So I am calling Bullshit! I want to end this myth that atheists can’t win and I want to encourage everyone to donate money to atheist candidates (progressive ones anyway), even if it is only a few dollars. You can start with Cecil Bothwell.
If you don’t think he can win in North Carolina, check out my Examiner article on it.
Related articles
- What Else Do Atheists Have in Common? (atheistrev.com)
- We’re Still Unelectable… (friendlyatheist.com)
Filed under: atheism, church/state, culture war, discrimination, Election, People of Reason, Political Activism, Politics
