Why All Of The Atheists In Congress Are Closeted
BY JACK JENKINS
POSTED ON AUGUST 26, 2014 AT 2:34 PM
"Why All Of The Atheists In Congress Are Closeted"
CREDIT: AP
Outside of prominent roles in television or the music industry, being elected to national office is often one of the most visible steps a minority group can take to win acceptance in American society. Yet, for the millions of Americans who openly identify as atheist, the goal of political representation currently remains just out of reach: At present, no one in the 113th Congress identifies as an atheist.
But when Maggie Ardiente of the American Humanist Association spoke to Brian Pellot of the Religion News Service earlier this month, she let slip a striking revelation about a potential hidden “atheist caucus” on Capitol Hill.
“We already know of 24 members of Congress who have told us privately that they don’t believe in God, but they won’t come out, of course, and if we tried to out them they would deny it,” Ardiente said.
The accuracy of Ardiente’s claim is, of course, unprovable. We live in a society where people get to self-identify their religious affiliation (or lack thereof), and the U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits subjecting candidates to a “religious test.” This makes forcing the issue of an elected official’s religious affiliation — or even the lack thereof — legally awkward, albeit common practice in some parts of the country.
Still, this isn’t the first time people have claimed the existence of a hidden cadre of godless lawmakers. In 2011, Herb Silverman, President of the Secular Coalition of America, told The Guardian that at least 28 members of Congress do not believe in God. True to not, Ardiente and Silverman’s comments raise two valid questions: Why is it that atheists, who make up over 2 percent of the U.S. population, aren’t better represented in Congress, and why are potentially “closeted” lawmakers so hesitant to publicly declare their unbelief?
Here are a few possible answers.
Atheism isn’t popular
The most practical reason for the lack of atheists in Congress is that, generally speaking, unbelief polls pretty terribly with the American people. A Pew Research survey conducted in May found that Americans consider atheism the least attractive trait for a candidate to possess, with voters more likely to back a candidate who smokes marijuana, has never held office, or has had an extramarital affair than a self-professed atheist. A June 2012 poll from Gallup reported similar results, with respondents saying that they would much rather vote for Mormons, Muslims, or gay people — all groups which currently have representation in Congress — than someone who doesn’t believe in God. Unsurprisingly, there has only been one openly atheist congressman in U.S. history — Pete Stark, a California Democrat — but he only copped to his nonbelief after 35 years in the House of Representatives (he was reelected two more times before losing his seat in 2012 to another Democrat, Eric Swalwell, who is Christian). Former Massachusetts Congressmen Barney Frank has also admitted to being atheist, but only in 2013, after he left office. Clearly, if you want to run for — or keep — elected office, claiming atheism isn’t going to help you at the ballot box.
fall short of a majority in most places. When this is combined with the fact that the “religiously unaffiliated” — a group that doesn’t associate with a religious group in surveys and includes many atheists — tend to vote less frequently than the faithful, it stands to reason that atheists have an unusually difficult climb when it comes to winning elections. In addition, states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and several othersconstitutionally ban atheists from holding elected office. Granted, these provisions are unlikely to hold up if challenged in federal court, but they are nonetheless substantial barriers to those wishing to become the political face of atheism.
Secondly, since America is unusually religious compared to most other developed nations, believers who root their values in their faith tend to relate more to religious candidates than nonreligious ones. Over time, these preferences morphed into cultural biases; for example, a full 53 percent of Americans say that a belief in God is essential to living a moral life, according to a 2014 Pew study. Similarly, a Pew Research pollconducted in June found that roughly half of Americans would be unhappy if a family member married an atheist. Predictably, there is something of an ideological divide between conservatives and liberals on this issue: 73 percent of “consistent conservatives” and 58 percent of those who are “mostly conservative” said they were opposed to an atheist in-law, whereas only 24 percent of “consistent liberals” and 41 percent of those who claim to be “mostly liberal” said the same. Still, the anti-atheist bent of the American public clearly exists in both parties, a phenomenon which is likely also affected by numbers: While Democrats are more accepting of atheists, only 24 percent are “religiously unaffiliated,” and only a small percentage of that sub-group claims atheism or agnosticism.
BY JACK JENKINS
POSTED ON AUGUST 26, 2014 AT 2:34 PM"Why All Of The Atheists In Congress Are Closeted"
CREDIT: AP
Outside of prominent roles in television or the music industry, being elected to national office is often one of the most visible steps a minority group can take to win acceptance in American society. Yet, for the millions of Americans who openly identify as atheist, the goal of political representation currently remains just out of reach: At present, no one in the 113th Congress identifies as an atheist.
But when Maggie Ardiente of the American Humanist Association spoke to Brian Pellot of the Religion News Service earlier this month, she let slip a striking revelation about a potential hidden “atheist caucus” on Capitol Hill.
“We already know of 24 members of Congress who have told us privately that they don’t believe in God, but they won’t come out, of course, and if we tried to out them they would deny it,” Ardiente said.
The accuracy of Ardiente’s claim is, of course, unprovable. We live in a society where people get to self-identify their religious affiliation (or lack thereof), and the U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits subjecting candidates to a “religious test.” This makes forcing the issue of an elected official’s religious affiliation — or even the lack thereof — legally awkward, albeit common practice in some parts of the country.
Still, this isn’t the first time people have claimed the existence of a hidden cadre of godless lawmakers. In 2011, Herb Silverman, President of the Secular Coalition of America, told The Guardian that at least 28 members of Congress do not believe in God. True to not, Ardiente and Silverman’s comments raise two valid questions: Why is it that atheists, who make up over 2 percent of the U.S. population, aren’t better represented in Congress, and why are potentially “closeted” lawmakers so hesitant to publicly declare their unbelief?
Here are a few possible answers.
Atheism isn’t popular
The most practical reason for the lack of atheists in Congress is that, generally speaking, unbelief polls pretty terribly with the American people. A Pew Research survey conducted in May found that Americans consider atheism the least attractive trait for a candidate to possess, with voters more likely to back a candidate who smokes marijuana, has never held office, or has had an extramarital affair than a self-professed atheist. A June 2012 poll from Gallup reported similar results, with respondents saying that they would much rather vote for Mormons, Muslims, or gay people — all groups which currently have representation in Congress — than someone who doesn’t believe in God. Unsurprisingly, there has only been one openly atheist congressman in U.S. history — Pete Stark, a California Democrat — but he only copped to his nonbelief after 35 years in the House of Representatives (he was reelected two more times before losing his seat in 2012 to another Democrat, Eric Swalwell, who is Christian). Former Massachusetts Congressmen Barney Frank has also admitted to being atheist, but only in 2013, after he left office. Clearly, if you want to run for — or keep — elected office, claiming atheism isn’t going to help you at the ballot box.
fall short of a majority in most places. When this is combined with the fact that the “religiously unaffiliated” — a group that doesn’t associate with a religious group in surveys and includes many atheists — tend to vote less frequently than the faithful, it stands to reason that atheists have an unusually difficult climb when it comes to winning elections. In addition, states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and several othersconstitutionally ban atheists from holding elected office. Granted, these provisions are unlikely to hold up if challenged in federal court, but they are nonetheless substantial barriers to those wishing to become the political face of atheism.
Secondly, since America is unusually religious compared to most other developed nations, believers who root their values in their faith tend to relate more to religious candidates than nonreligious ones. Over time, these preferences morphed into cultural biases; for example, a full 53 percent of Americans say that a belief in God is essential to living a moral life, according to a 2014 Pew study. Similarly, a Pew Research pollconducted in June found that roughly half of Americans would be unhappy if a family member married an atheist. Predictably, there is something of an ideological divide between conservatives and liberals on this issue: 73 percent of “consistent conservatives” and 58 percent of those who are “mostly conservative” said they were opposed to an atheist in-law, whereas only 24 percent of “consistent liberals” and 41 percent of those who claim to be “mostly liberal” said the same. Still, the anti-atheist bent of the American public clearly exists in both parties, a phenomenon which is likely also affected by numbers: While Democrats are more accepting of atheists, only 24 percent are “religiously unaffiliated,” and only a small percentage of that sub-group claims atheism or agnosticism.
