Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), famously the first congressperson to voluntarily come out as gay, came out for a second time, but only after he no longer held public office. This second time, however, he said he was an atheist. Frank’s hesitation points to the long-untapped potential for the political mobilization of the irreligious. Atheists, agnostics and non-belivers, while yet to experience the same kind of political and social awakening as other oppressed groups, can potentially create a formidable bloc in American politics.
Burnt in the fires of the Inquisition, condemned to die in Adolf Hitler’s Germany, atheists continue to experience discrimination in the United States. In fact, seven states — Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — ban atheists from holding public office in their state constitutions, apparently in direct contradiction to the First Amendment.
Atheists can challenge the religious right’s encroachments on First Amendment freedom. Secularism, one hallmark of both Lockean liberalism and the Constitution, bars the government from giving preferential treatment to a specific religious group. As the right pushes for the state to endorse Christianity, this proud tradition has increasingly faced assault.
Atheists constitute a rapidly expanding silent minority. Atheism is commonly recognized as the fastest-growing religious affiliation, or lack thereof, in American society. In some polls, atheists, agnostics and nonbelievers account for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population, outnumbering the percentage of Jews in America. However, while the 113th Congress includes 34 Jewish members, it has no atheists or non-believers. In fact, only one openly atheist representative — former Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) — has ever served in Congress.
I believe minorities should continue to push for proper representation in government. Diversity is the lifeblood of America. In this same vein, atheists, agnostics and nonbelievers should simply have greater representation than 0 percent of Congress. Their growing numbers could eventually force legislators to acknowledge their existence and needs.
As atheists and agnostics gain political power, they also can lend their voices to advocate for causes like as keeping scientific evolution in the classroom and keeping religion out of secular government. Since the rise of evangelical Christians within the Republican Party, Christian groups have engaged in a long campaign to project their morals and beliefs upon what should be secular government — as demonstrated by attacks on evolution in the classroom, abortion and gay rights. This even fails to include the annual holiday frenzy of religious fanaticism, when the right launches into harangues about the war on Christmas.
Indeed, some religious advocates have even spewed historical revisionism in the preposterous claim that the founding fathers, who were mainly deists, intended America to be a Christian nation. To win the battle over scrutinizing the founding fathers’ intentions regarding church and state, secularists need allies to lend their voices against those of the American right-wing extremists. While atheists and agnostics should not impose their beliefs on anyone else, they can function as allies. Atheists and agnostics can work with other voters, both religious and non-religious, who believe that there should be a clear barrier between church and state. The religious right will continue to try to erode this barrier, especially as right-wing media pays close attention to the so-called “culture wars” in which liberals want to make America into a “godless” society.
If we as a society truly believe that American citizens should not be compelled to follow a certain belief system, it is absolutely necessary to separate government and religion, and unifying atheists as a voting bloc will help protect and ensure that separation. More atheist representation in Congress will allow America to remain faithful to the First Amendment, which is crucial to protect citizens’ freedoms and government integrity.
