The Launch of Humanists for Biden

It's like herding cats... to the polls

• Here’s some political news we’re thrilled to share! For the first time in history, we, as non-believers, have an official initiative endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate: Humanists for Biden.

  Does this mean all Humanists feel the same? Of course not. And promoting Biden doesn’t mean an endorsement of every policy. (I promise you I cannot wait to start criticizing “President Biden.”) But this independent initiative was announced with the awareness of the Biden campaign, which is also a major change from the past, and if you feel the same way we do, please consider volunteering with us.

  By a large margin, atheists (and “Nones” in general) tend to support Democratic candidates - but until now, there’s been no targeted outreach from the political side to ours, or anything this formal connecting Secular Americans to a particular candidate. Here’s hoping this leads to more cooperation in the future. If nothing else, we hope this initiative encourages you to vote. There are at least as many “Nones” as there are Evangelical Christians in the U.S. It’s about time our political power matched theirs.

• That initiative also has the support of the only open Humanist in Congress:

  Rep. Jared "Please Wear a Mask" Huffman @JaredHuffman

  Really proud of my fellow Humanists who are stepping up, for all the right reasons, to elect Joe Biden as our next President!

  

  Greg Epstein @gregmepstein

  Like @hemantmehta said, this @humanists4biden video will make you cry, in a good way. If so—check out our launch this Thu 8 ET w/Rep. @JaredHuffman @waynecoyne/ @theflaminglips @SarahMLevin @SashaSagan @anthony_pinn @lauriesantos @DerrickHarkins & more! https://t.co/oPRcKKG9ed https://t.co/rBIX6bj6O6

• Senator Marsha Blackburn won’t get off it, claiming for a second time that Democrats are bigoted toward people of faith and only want atheists elected to the Supreme Court.

  “We know the Left is not going to be happy with someone of faith. They think that you need to be an atheist or a secularist to serve on the federal bench…”

  In reality, all Democratic-nominated justices on the Supreme Court are either Jewish or Catholic. (That includes RBG and Merrick Garland.)

  Fontaine Carpenter @_nullifidius

  @TheTNHoller @MarshaBlackburn She's not stupid. She knows this is not true. Almost the entire court is Catholic. She is framing it as an attack on religion to disqualify any criticism and pave the way for another religious extremist on the court. Unfortunately, many will buy it.

• A California pastor who’s been touting the pandemic as a hoax while lauding his congregation for cramming together in the pews without masks has proven to have little faith in his own preaching when he’s off the pulpit.
  
  Pastor John MacArthur has been busted for forcing his staff to sign COVID-19 release forms, to protect himself and his church against lawsuits if anyone gets sick… from COVID. It would be easier to laugh at his hypocrisy if he weren’t knowingly putting so many people who trust him at risk.

• Senate Republicans have been working so hard to avoid the HEROES Act that they’re puttering around making up useless resolutions to pass, like this one “expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance.” (Did you know the Pledge was under attack? ME NEITHER. Which is strange since I would’ve happily led the charge.)
  
  With their emphasis on the inclusion of “under God,” the Republicans who co-signed this distraction inadvertently highlighted their insensitivity to what’s going on in the world. It begs the question: Is this what your God wants to look down and see? For the “Moral Majority” to pass on the humanitarian urgency of an economic relief package in order to serve reverence to an inanimate sheet of polyester? Can we eat a flag? Can we shelter our families with a flag? Can a flag protect us from a deadly virus? Read the room, Republicans. 2020 is not the year for it.

• Can anyone translate Christianese? I’m having a hard time understanding this Christian TV show panel’s argument in support of Donald Trump:

  (More on that coming up on the website on Tuesday.)

• Think before you tweet a rebuttal, people:

  Hemant Mehta @hemantmehta

  A story in three acts.

  

  

  

• A burglary suspect, wearing only underwear and a rosary, struck a police officer in the face with a bible while shouting, “I condemn you,” after the officer attempted to question him. The assault didn’t do much to lower suspicions of the man’s involvement in the first crime; he was then tased and arrested for the latter.

• Can you have friends of the opposite gender? That’s a controversial question in evangelical circles.

• Finally, if this were Trump’s defense, it would be the first truth he’s ever told:

  God @TheTweetOfGod

  Trump is exempt from paying taxes because he is a cult leader.