The Ignored Atheist Vote

As the presidential candidates come together to discuss faith and issues of morality -- at Saddleback last week and at the Democratic National Convention this week, there's a large contingent feeling excluded. American atheist and agnostic voters are increasingly feeling left out of the debate or flat out ignored and taken for granted as politicians scramble to better woo the "faithful" .

Rakoto's Rants (a Malagasy blogger living in the U.S.) draws comparisons between the United States and his home country:

Scandinavian nations are at the top of the list which does not include any African nations.

in Madagascar, traditional beliefs, Christianity (45%) and Islam (7%) account for 99% of the population. A Council regrouping the principal Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) has been historically very involved into the political life of Madagascar.

Yet, there were more openly "secular"presidents in Madagascar's history that in the US history (Thomas Jefferson being the only known atheist American president).

He then ponders the correlation between the open show of faith and electability:

So again, why is openly showing its faith a sine qua non for "electability" ? And how does one correlate the candidates' faiths with the ability to govern a country ?

I imagine there are no quick easy answer to that question although I assume that the history of the founding fathers escaping religious persecution has got to be a factor.

Please understand that those questions are born from the desire to comprehend the decision-making process of the common elector during the elections from an outsider's perspective.

Blogger Bush Out is surprised that the majority of voters would sooner vote for a Jew or a woman than an atheist:

Atrios links to these Gallup results. It's pretty sad that 11% of US voters would not even consider voting for a woman. But the really scary stat is that a majority of US voters would never vote for an atheist.

Also interesting that 92% would vote for a Jew, but the question of voting for a Muslim was not even asked!

A commenter, Bukko_in_Australia, demonstrates one side of U.S. opinion:

One of the things on TV that embarrasses me most about my countrymen, aside from the clowns on Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil and Judge Judy, are their constant references to God and prayer. Makes Yanks sound like a bunch of gibbering superstitious Third-Worlders.

eat lard, in a post entitled "The Atheist Manifesto," discusses how atheists are regularly relegated to the category of those with no belief structure or morals:

In the great Democrat litmus test recently Senators Obama and Clinton showed that both a Woman and Black was conceivable and realistic as a choice of the people' Chief Executive. But polling numbers above have ruled out a non-religious President of the United States. It's not surprising therefore that 'Shares our Values' is a consistent and accurate measure of a voter's personal preference for a candidate.

Despite the popular idea that values must be religious, I ask you, is it hard to imagine that atheists have values and make conscious choices to live by them? That our values should differ, like our belief structures do but that they stem from choice, experience and commonsense is so hard to imagine?

Daniel Cuevas, a Puerto-Rican blogger writing for WeOp-Ed, discusses the Latino vote as it relates to the spectrum of religion:

At the risk of using sweeping generalizations, I don't think that most people would doubt that blacks and Latinos are people of faith. Latinos pray almost as many times a day as Muslims, and blacks are the only people I know whose voice mail greetings are most likely to tell callers to have "a blessed day." Like the Christian Right and the Republicans who pander to that voting bloc, Latinos and blacks invoke God into their personal lives on a daily basis, and not just when they take the Lord's name into vain, either.

Liberals, on the other hand, are widely regarded as being secular and atheist. Most white college professors are both liberal and secular to the point where they actually look down on people who believe in God. Most white liberals couldn't care less that the right wing segment of American media label them as Godless and blame them for everything from the overblown "war on Christmas" to an alleged opposition to school prayer...but Latinos care.

For more information on atheist voters in the United States, check out this post from an American atheist on which candidate is best, and this post on secular organizations which support Obama.

Follow Jillian York on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jilliancyork

Comments

[YouDisgustMe]

jilian, the secular vote cannot and does not need to be wooed....we think for ourselves

[BrotherRichard]

I agree. I am a former atheist minister who is now an atheist.

As if it wasn't enough the DNC decided not to include non-believers in their opening ceremony, we had to endure the first meeting of the Presidential candidates in a church and hosted by Rev. Rick Warren (America's Pastor).

After speaking with many friends (including former Christian associates), I wrote a letter to Pastor Warren. I of course don't expect him to respond, but I am hoping that he and many other of our religious brothers and sisters, have the opportunity to read it. http://tiny.cc/fio5K

Thanks,

Brother Richard

[JPHR]

Wars over religion tend to be rather vicious. It took Europe a few centuries to separate state and church. Quite a few religious fringe groups only evaded persecution in Europe by migrating to America. The founding fathers wrote a secular constitution while maintaining religious freedom. Only in the McCarthy era the anti communist sentiment was exploited to add for instance some message on coins (and no that message was not "pecunia non olet").
However pathetic it was to let Monica Goodling take the fall, there might be a message there. A goodwilling, dedicated hardworking Goodling programmed by the Christian equivalent of a Madrassa (Regent University was founded by Pat Robertson, and it advertises itself as "America's Preeminent Christian University".) proved a perfect tool. Of course her boss was clueless about her actions (yeah really?), but he knew perfectly well wat kind of action he could expect. I guess that the USA might be able to learn something of Ataturk.

[BeeOplentee]

Sorry, I know it makes the atheists and some Europeans recoil in horror, but we are a religious nation. It will take you a million years to convince us that atheist secularism with its gloomy emptiness really is the answer. The failure of communism and the horrific suicide rates in socialist countries like Sweden are still too fresh or on-going in our memories.

[RoloTomassi]

"The failure of communism and the horrific suicide rates in socialist countries like Sweden are still too fresh or on-going in our memories."

Overall suicide rate for Sweden: 13.2%

Overall suicide rate for the US: 11%

Oh yeah, I really see your point....! More absurdity from the folks who live in a spiritual disneyland....

[LanceJetson]

Who's this "we" or "us" you're talking about? Got a mouse in your pocket? I'd say "we" are a pluarlistic nation with all kinds of beliefs, religious or otherwise who are being "railroaded" by fundamentalist Christians who refuse to understand the secular foundation for our constitution and laws. Rick Warren doesn't even begin to represent me as an American, nor is he asking questions that a concerned American should be asking of the candidates. (And we can certainly beat those suicidal countries with our own horrific homicide rates -- so much for the Christian influence, which to me seems pretty "gloomy" -- "live like us or burn in hell.")

[theguruofreason]

Similarly, the failure of communism can easily be attributed to a corrupt government and an overwhelming police state. Besides, what does communism have to do with atheists? Atheists aren't necessarily communist. As for our "gloomy emptiness," I don't feel that my life is empty whatsoever. There appears to be more for me to do and discover than any person of strict religion would believe because they think that they already have all the answers. Atheists search for truth while theists profess to know it based on what they're told, and one thing they are told is never to question.

[Quaoar]

Gloomy emptiness? Our lives are full enough so that an imaginary friend is unnecessary.

Atheism and Communism are mutually exclusive. A good portion of Libertarians are atheists and agnostics. They're the opposite of communists.

[seathanaich]

What a laughably false and ignorant post, BeeOplentee. Hopefully by reading the replies to your post, you may learn that an opinion is something you form AFTER doing research, not before it.
It will take a lot less than a million years to convince American Christians to reject religion. At current pace, theists will be a minority in the United States by the end of this century. Although the US lags behind all other advanced nations, the growth in atheism over the last 50 years is extremely encouraging for humanity. Europe is already 50% non-religious, and the only religious problems still being caused there are by Muslim immigrants. Canada has just passed 25%, and lags behind Australia, New Zealand, and the most advanced nations in Asia (Japan and South Korea). All these nations have shown that, once a certain critical mass of people are open about their atheism, the decline of religious belief, practices, and rituals declines across the board.
And what a laugh, acting as if the social climate in Sweden is inferior to that of the US. If Sweden didn't have Muslim immigrants, they'd have virtually no crime of any kind.

[RoloTomassi]

As an addendum to my comment above, I would add that the Social Inclusionists make up the majority of the religious folks in the US. They are also the biggest obstacle to a true separation of church and state, as they are the "do as I say, not as I do" crowd. They defend not religion but religiosity, primarily to protect the benefits they perceive they garner from being part of the nation's largest networking/social club.

And so it is my not so humble opinion that it is those who uphold the socially ambiguous framework of religions, rather than core religious practioners, that keeps this country in a non-progressive stranglehold, and actively demonizes we who reside outside of the homogenous flock of the believers club.

[CornellRedneck]

Looks like you got blown out of the water, my friend, by BeeOplentee (snicker)!

[RoloTomassi]

If you had more than your redneck-by­-definitio­n prerequisite of two brain cells to rub together, you'd know that he actually makes my point for me.

[HeevenSteven]

Reading comprehension courses are available at your local community college.

[RoloTomassi]

In the US, religious piety can be broken down into three [3] distinctive groups in a hierarchical structure, and they function very differently from each other:

1) True Believers: these are the hardcore folks, and the majority of them base their beliefs on religious dogma; they believe that if one follows the rules, one will prevail in life and in the spiritual afterlife. The minority of this group is quite different from the majority, finding their religion to be less conventional and more mystical in nature, and tend to break away from the herd in search deeper meaning.

2) Utilitarians: These people were raised in a religious household/context, and generally do not question the basis of that belief system to any great depth; they may not strictly adhere to religious practices and dogma, but such is always present when their world view is informed. Many of this ilk also find religion to be an excellent cloaking device for activities that many would find morally questionable, and find that they are scrutinized less because of involvement with religion-based organizations and activities.

3) Social Inclusionists: For these folks religion is merely a tool for social and professional networking, and to some degree a social veneer that projects a sense of higher morality and stability.

Of course these are just my observations--just an armchair analysis of the situation in the US, as seen by an agnostic native of the US Bible belt.

[Jillian York - Huffpost Blogger]

Excellent description of religious hierarchy in the US!