That's awesome! Hope it doesn't cost them their seat, though.

It's such a HUGE shame that there's a possibility of either this person losing his seat or a backlash.  I guess that's kind of obvious, but it still makes me mad that admitting you're an atheist can cause such a negative reaction.

What would happen if this person does lose their seat or suffers because of this?  Will this give the religious right more leverage? 

There's a way to soften the blow, and that is to call out the theistic response before they even make it. If we predict that there will be a voter backlash, we should send out the message "Look at how oppressed atheists are in the US. Even a qualified person who happens to be atheist will get attacked and threatened if he comes out and openly expresses his atheism." Then when theists do exactly as we predicted, we can say, "See, just as we predicted, here we have exhibit A, congressman so-and-so...."

Takes a bit of preparation, but it can be extremely effective. I hope the secular.org people are going to handle it well when they make the announcement. Maybe the RRS would want to coordinate with them to ensure that the theistic response is well-prepared for.

We'll be supporting this congressperson when www.secular.org makes the announcement, I spoke with them today.

That's who I'd put my money on too, if I were a betting woman.

It is sad that the person will most likely get backlash, but this is an important step and they most likely realize it. I really hope they realize what they are doing by doing this and they are prepared for the backlash.

I could see the person doing if they know they aren't going to run for office again as image doesn't really matter as much then. The only down side is Ann Cunt Coulter will probably jump all over it if the person is a Dem.

I'll have to look up the person's history once released, might have a new hero.

It could be John Olver (D-MA), as well - he's one of the few politicians I know who says that he doesn't attend church.  As he's the Representative for my home District, I can tell you that he's run unopposed the last two terms.

Mmm....central MA - where people aren't fucking insane Republican theists that bash gays and bomb abortion clinics.

I hope it's someone who has been reelected time and time again.  Someone who is popular with the voters and has no trouble winning an election.

It would be great if it's a much-loved person.  Maybe then folks will start to realize that atheists aren't something to be feared.

However, I'll bet it's someone that isn't running for relection and has already planned to leave Washington in at the end of this term.

Let's hope this person is a good has a good track record. That way, if/when theists start to complain, they obviously couldn't criticize his/her political inadequacies. So it would be clear that they would only have a problem with them not believing in god. If they try to do exactly that. what’s the bet that theists will try to equate their non-belief with political issues i.e. “if he/she believed in Christian values, X would have been better/not happened."

Brain,

I woke this morning, staggered over to the computer and read this post. I too have witnessed the rise in the skeptic voice over the last 7 years, and I agree that we atheists do owe a huge gratitude to the people who work hard everyday to help make the atheist voice heard.

Brian Sapient
Rook Hawkins
Kelly
The rest of the rrs team
Reggie (ig)
Jake
Richard Carrier
Robert Price
Sam Harris
Davis Mills
Richard Dawkins
Greydon Square
Hillbilly Atheist
Dan Barker
(I know I’m forgetting many , so feel free to add others)

These atheists from all walks of life have been instrumental in exposing the myths regarding atheism, and are helping educate an ignorant public regarding the absurdities of religion.

Thank -you all so much for your hard work.

I am anxious to see which member of congress steps forward.

Truman

From www.secular.org:

 
Rep. PeteStark(D-Calif.),a member ofCongress since 1973,acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America. Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee.

Our research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in the history of the Congress. He holds the highest level office of the four contest nominees who agreed to self-identify with our community.

I just sent him a email of support. I hope he gets more positive feedback then negative.

Oh, and it seems that Ned Lamont, the insurgent Damocrat from my home state of Connecticut (who lost a tough race to Joe Lieberman (ugh) last year), is speaking at the New Humanist Conference at Harvard in April.  Any info on that?

(I still proudly display my Ned Lamont bumper-sticker on my car!)

A biography of him at Wiki also stated that he was one of the first vocal opponants to the Iraqi invasion.

Nice! Meanwhile, his god-fearing colleagues rallied around Bush and his illegal war.   

I really like this guy!

Stark confirmed his belief in a statement to The Associated Press late Monday. He said he was "a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being."

"I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social services," he wrote.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/3/13/85516.shtml?s=po 

http://www.issues2000.org/CA/Pete_Stark.htm  I like this guy too. He voted for net neutrality