WEEK IN REVIEW: The growth of the godless caucus
WEEK IN REVIEW: The growth of the godless caucus
The godless caucus grows larger, Ron DeSantis declares himself God’s “fighter,” Tennessee won’t correct an anti-atheist constitutional relic, and more!
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There’s a longstanding belief that atheists are unelectable in the United States. After all, only 60% of Americans say they would vote for a well-qualified atheist even if that person was from their own party. There’s only one openly Humanist member of Congress (Rep. Jared Huffman). The stigma seems very real.
However, this week’s elections showed that open non-religiosity is no longer the albatross around candidates’ necks like it used to be.
With help from the Freethought Equality Fund PAC and the Center for Freethought Equality, I was able to track all the openly non-religious candidates who were willing to say publicly that they weren’t part of any organized religion. Some are atheists. Some are Secular Jews. Some are “spiritual but not religious.” The terminology matters less than the principle.
Bottom line: We’re about to see the largest ever batch of “Nones” in state and federal government (assuming the uncalled races go as expected).
The big takeaways?
All members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus who were on the ballot won their races (with two in the lead but not officially winners yet).
There are at least 15 openly non-religious state senators.
There are at least 44 openly non-religious state representatives.
There is only one Republican (!) in the bunch and he’s from Idaho (!!).
Virtually no incumbent “Nones” who ran for office lost their seat.
Non-religiosity was rarely, if ever, used in attack ads against these candidates.
You can see the full spreadsheet (which is still being updated) right here.
As always, I appreciate your support through Patreon and Substack, which allows me to pursue these efforts while working on articles and other projects.
In a campaign ad that, in a more rational world, would anger religious conservatives, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deemed himself a “fighter” sent by the Christian God to defend the downtrodden.
I wrote more about the ad here, but just consider the response if Joe Biden released a similar ad. Every white evangelical pastor and FOX anchor would be screaming about blasphemy.
It finally happened.
Here’s another bright spot from the elections. In Arkansas, Christian Nationalists tried passing a “religious freedom” amendment that would’ve given just about anyone the power to override state laws and sensible restrictions (like in-person gathering limits during a future pandemic) by citing their faith.
In theory, the amendment could have resulted in “people citing the Bible to defend things like spousal battery or child abuse.” Or ignoring anti-discrimination laws, consumer protection laws, and fire codes. Or doctors refusing to treat LGBTQ patients. Or teachers refusing to cover evolution in science class.
But while Republicans won just about every important election in the state, this particular amendment failed.
It was close. But this was the right move for all citizens.
Somehow, this was the week’s biggest religion scandal at the Air Force Academy, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation:
MRFF’s allegation is that the ordering of the numbers on that banner purposely puts #3 near the end so that the last two numbers are 3 and 16. (That’s supposed to be a reference to John 3:16, the famous Bible verse that says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)
My take: This is, at best, a strange coincidence. It’s not a five-alarm fire that requires the punishment of military officials, which is seriously what MRFF is calling for. To act like it’s a major problem—to cry wolf at the sight of a mere shadow—makes it that much less likely that people will trust MRFF the next time they say the military is promoting religion (which it often does!).
On Tuesday, voters in Tennessee rightly voted to eliminate a discriminatory, archaic part of its State Constitution that forbids pastors from holding elected office. It’s long past time for that relic to go away, both because it’s unenforceable and because pastors currently hold office in the state. It took years for this process to play out, as required by law. Good riddance!
The problem? The same process could’ve eliminated the entire problematic section of the state’s Constitution. Instead, Republicans like State Sen. Mark Pody chose to only eliminate the part concerning pastors… while leaving the (also unenforceable) ban on atheists in place.
Remember Peter Schmidt? He was the anti-LGBTQ Republican candidate for Wisconsin House who admitted having "many sexual encounters" with a male colleague?
Well, say hello to your newest Wisconsin legislator. He won his race.
Here’s some good news, though. Kristina Karamo, an election denier who believes LGBTQ-inclusive churches are “agents of Satan,” lost her (important!) race for Michigan Secretary of State. Hallelujah.
One more loss. And just when he seemed to be on the rise…
(Tip your waitstaff, everyone.)
Why do so many people think atheists are immoral? Sociologist Phil Zuckerman says it's "projection" more than anything. People think they'd do horrible things without God watching over them, so they assume atheists do those same horrible things.
The stereotype of atheists as immoral has much of its source in the manifest moral bankruptcy of theism. On some level, theists must sense that their moral scaffolding is extremely weak. But, of course, to admit or consciously acknowledge such a truth would threaten their own sense of self, to say nothing of their entire worldview. But the moral depravity is there, to be sure. And it manifests itself in yet another case of social-psychological group projection: theists “see” in atheists what is actually within themselves and their theism—namely, a vacuous moral orientation.
I'm beginning to think Pat Robertson doesn't have a direct line to God...
Michael Voris, the founder of the right-wing Catholic website Church Militant, told his followers that violence “must always be an option” in the political arena. He added that any suggestion that violence should be avoided went against Catholic doctrine: “Remember the Crusades?”
This short documentary from the BBC is a must-watch. It’s about Mubarak Bala, the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, who was charged with blasphemy.
Good on those demons for voting early, I say!
God had other plans, apparently.
Congratulations to evangelical women for finding another loophole.
The responses to this tweet are *chef’s kiss*:
How is this not a cult?
Best argument I’ve ever heard for atheism.
The Johnson Amendment violations never end… and the IRS still isn’t doing its job:
This is really neat! It's a free, virtual, one-day conference about the need for a more humane prison reform. You can sign up using the link below!
Fundamentalist Christian grandmother Lori Alexander, a.k.a. The Transformed Wife, showed little girls why they should never aspire to be more like her:
And now for your weekly dose of fundie insanity and right-wing preaching:
This week in Atheist Bible Study? Numbers 27: We're zooming in on a family full of daughters.
Why? Because they're furious that men in the Israelite community get land as part of their inheritance but the women get shafted. And they're out for revenge.
I spoke with my co-host Jessica Greiff about many of the stories in this newsletter during this week’s podcast:
Finally, I’m proud of all of you.
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