US REP comes out as an atheist

malfeitor
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US REP comes out as an atheist

Not sure if that was already posted.

Original article here.

 Dave GordonHumanist Chaplain Greg Epstein presents Congressman Stark with the Harvard Humanist of the Year award. Media Credit: Dave Gordon

"Coming out" as the first openly nontheist member of the United States Congress, Representative Fortney "Pete" Stark (D-CA) quipped, "I'm pleased that I'm in Cambridge and not in Salem!" On September 20, 2007, Congressman Stark spoke publicly for the first time about his atheism to an audience of approximately 300 members of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, the Harvard Law School Heathen Society, and various other atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, and nonreligious groups. The Boston Globe was also on hand to cover the event.

Stark, who is a Unitarian, is the highest-ranking American politician to openly declare that he is nontheist. Although Stark denies a belief in a god, he was quick to note that the Stark family does recognize a supreme being: Mrs. Stark.

Congressman Stark regaled the audience with anecdotes about his life and his background, noting that he "was born poor enough so that I never slept alone until I was married." Before running for office, Congressman Stark was a successful bank executive, a member of the U.S. Air Force, and a leader of a Unitarian Universalist seminary. As Stark explained it, he was not at all interested in a supreme being, but was instead interested in people.

When Stark won his congressional seat in 1971, religion simply was not at the forefront of most people's minds. Religion only surfaced on occasion, he noted, like when his congressional colleagues wanted to have 'prayer breakfasts'. Religion began to enter the public debate more forcefully in the 1980s, which is, Congressman Stark speculated, when televangelists and politicians discovered that they could use religion to raise money and increase power.

Even with the apparent resurgence of religion in the public debate, Congressman Stark denied that religion has much impact in actual politics. The leading candidates all agree that they believe in a supreme being, Congressman Stark observed, but they all forget about it as soon as they are elected.

Religion does not often enter into discussions of the real issues, observed Stark. He characterized the main political debate as one where Republicans think that government is something from which we ought to be protected, and Democrats think that government is something to make our lives better. Religion may subtly affect the style, but not the subject of debate.

When asked abut how difficult it is for demonized atheists to "come out," Congressman Stark noted that he does not think there is any evidence that atheists are demonized. Although some believers often exhibit an arrogance of certainty, Congressman Stark has never encountered anyone who was "nasty" about it. When someone asks him if he loves Jesus, he replies, "I don't know, but everything I've heard about him is fine!"

Some audience members were skeptical about Stark's optimism that atheists can be accepted by American society at large. As the Globe reported on Saturday, a recent Gallup poll showed that fewer than half of respondents said they would vote for a well-qualified atheist for office. More people were willing to support a woman, homosexual, Mormon, or a 72-year-old.

Despite his downplaying the importance of religion, however, Congressman Stark is notably the only atheist congressman in our history to "come out." Although Americans are increasingly non-believing, many politicians remain leery of "coming out" for fear of public backlash. A representative of the Secular Coalition of America said that the group had spoken to 21 representatives who were nonbelievers, but not yet willing to go public.

Now that 20% of Americans age 18 through 25 identify themselves as having no religion, perhaps politicians will begin to break their silence.

Madison Kitchens, HLS '10, commented, "In a time when the only religious test for office is that one have a religion, Congressman Stark's candor is both surprising and refreshing. I hope that his example will embolden like-minded politicians to break the taboo themselves."

More information about the university and law school groups and upcoming events can be found at www.harvardhumanist.org and www.hlsheathens.org.

[MOD EDIT - inserted article and provided link to original article]


Susan
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It's nice to know that Rep.

It's nice to know that Rep. Stark has a great sense of humor.

From the article:

Although Stark denies a belief in a god, he was quick to note that the Stark family does recognize a supreme being: Mrs. Stark.


Congressman Stark regaled the audience with anecdotes about his life and his background, noting that he "was born poor enough so that I never slept alone until I was married." 

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Raki
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Well at least one of us is

Well at least one of us is in the Congress.


Medievalguy
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I think thats awesome. Lets

I think thats awesome. Lets see if he gets elected again however...


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He's from California, so he

He's from California, so he should be fine. I mean, that is the most hedonistic state in the union!

He provides some really fantastic insights in the article...

"Religion began to enter the public debate more forcefully in the 1980s, which is, Congressman Stark speculated, when televangelists and politicians discovered that they could use religion to raise money and increase power."

You know, I've wondered a lot about how many politicians really believe in God, and how many are just in it for the money and power.

"The leading candidates all agree that they believe in a supreme being, Congressman Stark observed, but they all forget about it as soon as they are elected."

Same thought here.

"Religion does not often enter into discussions of the real issues...Religion may subtly affect the style, but not the subject of debate."

I'm sure this is mostly true, except for the most fundy of the politicians. The rest is just pandering to the religious right.

"When someone asks him if he loves Jesus, he replies, 'I don't know, but everything I've heard about him is fine!'".

This practically made me wet my pants laughing.

"...a recent Gallup poll showed that fewer than half of respondents said they would vote for a well-qualified atheist for office. More people were willing to support a woman, homosexual, Mormon, or a 72-year-old."

Yeah, but how many would support a 72-year-old homosexual Mormon woman? That's what I want to know.

"A representative of the Secular Coalition of America said that the group had spoken to 21 representatives who were nonbelievers, but not yet willing to go public."

If we play by the number that 10% of Americans are athiests, that means there's at least another 20 or so people in the House of Reps who are with us.

Has anyone from RRS contacted his office to see if he'd want to be on the radio show?

Nobody I know was brainwashed into being an atheist.

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I wonder...

How hard it would be to get an Interview with him. If the RRS had him on the show. I bet he is very busy though.

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The Doomed Soul
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I'm taking bets on when he

I'm taking bets on when he will get kicked out of office


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He's probably in a very

He's probably in a very safe seat; some part of California that wouldn't vote for Superman if he was a Republican.

The RRS should definitely interview this guy. And produce a list of suspected and known atheist politicians so atheists can have that information when they vote. 

Lazy is a word we use when someone isn't doing what we want them to do.
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