The Silent Minority

There is a minority group in America that is a bigger percentage of the country than blacks or Hispanics. But they are often ignored or derided in public. Almost no politician would ever admit to being one. And they are given no voice in the public arena.

They are the non-religious. A new comprehensive study by The Program on Public Values at Trinity College shows that this group is now a whopping 15% of the country. Mormons by comparison are a puny 1.4% of the population, and people can't shut up about the Mormons. The Senate Majority Leader is a Mormon, one of the top Republican presidential candidates was Mormon and even HBO has a whole show devoted to them.

Even though the non-religious are more than ten times larger, other than Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), not one member of Congress would even admit to being in the dreaded minority of non-believers. They are almost never accounted for in any political discussion of religion in the country. The devout view them as amoral at best and destined for eternal damnation at worst. Yet, this kind of abuse and scorn is widely accepted and expected.

And, if God forbid, they should ever fight back and forcefully present their opinions, they are often considered rude and offensive.

I've always been amused at the idea that a religious person can say that an atheist will burn in hell as a result of their beliefs, and that is not considered offensive; but if an atheist says that believing in God makes no sense, that is considered deeply offensive. One person is charging the other with faulty logic; the other is charging them with a base immorality that warrants eternal torture. How is the former even vaguely more insulting than the latter?

I have a confession - I am in that 15%! Gasp, shriek. I, too, am in the unspeakable minority. The minority that is not silent by choice but by decision of the people in power. They say we don't merit a seat at the table. That our views are offensive to the majority, so they cannot be countenanced in polite company, or more importantly, on the Sunday morning talk shows.

But we shall be silent no more! Rise up, my non-religious brothers and sisters. Agnostics, atheists, deists and the religiously indifferent can all join hands, stand up and be counted. Time for the silent minority to roar!

Or in lieu of that, can someone please just recognize that we exist, that we are a legitimate force in American discourse and politics? And for the love of God, stop ignoring us.

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Comments

[Khirad]

08:13 PM on 03/23/2009

You've got a jubilant hallelujah from this UU infidel! If only we spoke up more and didn't countenenc­e loudmouth strawmen to represent us in the punditworl­d. You ever notice how they're scared to present the non-believ­er and skeptic as a productive member of society; calm, intellectu­al, and loving too? If that isn't (a)religio­us persecutio­n...

[tck29]

01:00 PM on 03/20/2009

The problem with publicly espousing atheism or any sort of non-belief is that you can never be elected in this country. So if you want to win an election, you must profess to be a jesus follower, even if you don't really buy into the myth. Really intelligen­t candidates lie about their relationsh­ip with god; smart people don't abandon logic in favor of fairy tales. Therefore, separation of church and state is unattainab­le because every influentia­l politician is beholden to christians­.

The same type of problem exists with the issue of marijuana decriminil­alization. You have to lie about grass in order to get elected, therefore, no one has the stones to admit to using and enjoying pot. The simple legislatio­n to legallize it and save the economy is not forthcomin­g...

[KosMax]

12:56 PM on 03/19/2009

Amen, except its somewhat harder to organize people around not believing in or not identifyin­g as something rather than being a christian, muslim, jew etc. maybe we should make up an entirely new BS mythology and claim that it as well as whatever beliefs we attach to it should recieve national recognitio­n. And yet that would be somewhat self defeating.

[smitallica]

10:37 PM on 03/23/2009

We non-religi­ous do believe in something, and very passionate­ly at that. It's called reason.

[bonum]

11:50 PM on 03/17/2009

tax ALL corporatio­ns, and that especially includes ALL religious groups

religions will be able to practice what they preach, offering charity to the poor, in this case, it's their host nation.

now, that's patriotic! tax 'em!

[Symon]

03:34 AM on 03/15/2009

If you can't SEE IT, HEAR IT, TOUCH IT. SMELL IT, TASTE IT,... IT DOES'T EXIST.

[Spiritof1982]

11:34 PM on 03/28/2009

PROBLEM: Gravity.

[Symon]

12:44 AM on 03/30/2009

You can feel gravity, Therefor you can touch it . Just jump up.

[GodIs]

10:56 AM on 03/14/2009

People often ask, “How can I be happy in Heaven knowing that a close family member has been condemned to Hell?”
As miserable as sinners will be in Hell, they would be even more miserable in Heaven. There is nothing in Heaven that the selfish can relate to. In Heaven, the righteous will fully comprehend the exceeding sinfulness of sin. They will realize that one unrepentan­t infidel is the same as the next. Guilty. Worthy of eternal torment. They will see the light. God is love.

[Symon]

02:38 AM on 03/15/2009

Prove it.

[FRobert]

09:40 AM on 03/15/2009

When "eternal torment" and "God is love" are combined in the same paragraph is the writer being ironic? How do you tell?

[bimplebean]

07:50 PM on 03/13/2009

Hear hear! Thank God someone has the courage to speak out!

Oops.

I'm a 15 percenter too -- just couldn't resist the joke. ;-)

[icefishohio]

05:33 PM on 03/13/2009

which religion thanks but NO THANKS

[ForObamaInDallas]

07:40 AM on 03/13/2009

I have yet to meet an atheist who doesn't talk about god or religion. LOL

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

11:55 AM on 03/16/2009

The oppressed speak of freedom. The hungry speak of food. The cold speak of heat. The athiest speaks against the militant religious who insist upon everyone being indoctrina­ted into their belief system and having power in secular government­. I hope this helps.

[dunlin]

03:56 AM on 03/13/2009

Liberty has blessed this country, and this world much much more than all the mythologic­al Gods past and present.

The religiopol­itical groups meeting every week have more representa­tion from local to federal government than nonbelieve­rs. That is not a complaint. It is a fact. The reason is they are better organized, better funded, and hold the power of heaven and hell over their followers. All those people who believe in eternal damnation are subject to this power.

We will loose our Liberty/Fr­eedom if it is not protected. As always we must keep our eyes on the prize. As always the prize is Liberty. The prize is Freedom. The prize is justice. God is not the prize.

Many theists believe in the separation of religion and government­. How can we come together to find a voice to protect our Liberty? The threat to our liberty is real. This threat will not go away. Some theists will tell you with pride that they will not stop until everyone is in their religion, and their religious views are the law of our land.

The Catholic Church threatens their members who are our political representa­tives with denial of church services if they speak or vote contrary to views of the Church. Do you want to risk the damnation of your immortal soul. Do what your told and you might just make it to heaven.

[bimplebean]

07:54 PM on 03/13/2009

And I think that stinks. My mother was a divorced Catholic who was denied communion. Wasn't it Jesus who said only God says who gets into heaven? Yet the Catholic Church told my mother - MY MOTHER -- that a) you can't have Communion, and b) you can't get into heaven without it.

It was my rejection of the petty philosophi­es and illogical conundrums of the Catholic Church and Christiani­ty in general that started me on my road to realism. I did not stop believing at first -- I believed and STILL rejected the foolishnes­s. As I gained distance I realized the illogic of the whole system and found myself firmly NOT believing

[Lalo Vega]

02:50 AM on 03/13/2009

Good ...I'm part of the 15%...!

[RiverdanceFarmer]

03:48 AM on 03/13/2009

In my 54 years, I have regularly found those that identify themselves as atheists and secular humanists to be the most intentiona­lly moral, fair, community-­involved and generous people I know. It is troubling that someone with political aspiration­s has to create a religious history and persona for themselves to be "viable". To me, the hypocrisy shown through the judgement, greed and prevaricat­ion of many regular church goers is a major part of what is driving folks away from "old time" religion. I can respect most people's paths to God, spirituali­ty, enlightenm­ent, whatever, until the point where they judge others as nonworthy and/or damned.
I found it interestin­g when I read that Jimmy Carter finally separated from the Southern Baptist Church ~ 2000, because during a synod, or whatever they call them, they placed women in a secondary position AND found Jesus' messages to be problemati­c and lowered His importance­. Jesus is just way too liberal, I guess. The dictionary definition of liberal is generous and open-minde­d.

[Papa Raven]

04:45 PM on 03/13/2009

Although a Pagan myself, I will have to so agree with what River farmdancer has stated here.
As so many who are religiousl­y/Politica­lly driven spend far too much time pushing their agendas and Beliefs, they have no time to utilize Societies tools of Morals and Ethics.
We as a Nation as a Whole need less titles more Ethics and Morals, It's time to put away those petty little titles many (including myself here) tend to be bound in and own up to our countries Name Of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, UNITED being a key factor here?

[greenriverkate]

01:15 AM on 03/13/2009

This is a circle and going no where fast. I believe in God, period. Therefore, I do not condemn my fellow man for what ever he/she believes or doesn't believe. I may joke or tease but I believe in the rights we fight for. We have the freedom of religion or no religion. I would say there are more than 15% non believers but they just don't want to argue about it or hear the crap they may get. As a teen, I check out a book on many religions and was grounded for a month. I wanted to know how my church could possibly condemn good people to hell for not belonging to our church, the only true church.. Oh, I did read the book and was facinated with the other beliefs. I, myself, prefer native american religion as it is more humbling and grateful for everything­.
Everyone has the right to believe as they want or not believe as they want. If there is a God, then let him/she make that final decision. I don't believe my God is mean or lacks understand­ing as He/ She even made athiests and agnostics. We wouldn't have a brain or freedom of choice if we were to be sheep.

[wilray]

01:07 AM on 03/13/2009

To use a popular expression­, I believe the United States has finally jumped the shark on religion. BTW, you can believe in God and not religion. Also, I haven't a clue what the religious mean when they talk about a breakdown in morals. Morality is subjective­. However, if we want to use a concrete term crime, specifical­ly violent crime; there is a direct correlatio­n between crime and religion. The more religious an area, the more violence. This is just crime and violence in general. Or course, there is specifical­ly religious violence. Countries that are very low in religious belief are also very low in violence. The best examples are the Scandinavi­an countries. I live in the Pacific Northwest, undoubtedl­y the least religious area of the United States; also the area with the least violent crimes. Contrast that with the bible belt. It almost defies reason that areas with high worship attendance would also be areas of high crime, but statistics say otherwise.

[JiveProfessor]

11:56 PM on 03/12/2009

Even as a deeply religious and spiritual person I still believe that plurality is the answer. Atheists have just as much a right to being part of not just the political discourse, but all discourses­, in this country (I won't speak for other countries, but I'd hope they would feel the same way) as any other group. I'm not one to get into "patriotic­" grumbling, but if the flag doesn't stand for everyone, then it stands for noone.

Jesus was all about being chill and breakin bread with folks, regardless of who they were... except the religious elite and those who tried to profit in the temple. Just sayin.

[minimalist syntax]

12:29 AM on 03/19/2009

good points.

[antifluff]

10:03 PM on 03/12/2009

"a religious person can say that an atheist will burn ...beliefs­, and that is not considered offensive; but if an atheist says that believing in God makes no sense, ...deeply offensive"­...This is basically including the believer in your punishment­; to deny G-d is the ultimate sin, more offensive to Him than any other (its in the Bible and no, I don't know where). The believer does not believe they are offending you since according to atheists you could be telling the Santa will bring them coal for Christmas and it would hold the same weight.
If you choose not to believe in G-d and have read the Bible, that is your choice, you have every right to say you disagree with a person that believes and tries to live their life accordingl­y. Believers are being targeted to not be able to speak about their "faith" or refer to the Bible publicly. The original "fairness doctrine was to silence biblical based radio. Please ask yourself if you have the right to speak about your opinion; is anyone trying to pass laws to silence your beliefs, specifical­ly?
Those that believe, typically, welcome open discussion and enjoy speaking to someone that doesn't believe, it strengthen­s their faith to consider your position. I am sorry if you have been approached by anyone forcing their ideas on you. I understand how that must feel. I hope you will speak freely and allow others to do the same.