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Does atheism need a pitch man?
Atheist actor and writer Ricky Gervais is working on a new show, Afterlife , which features “an atheist who dies and goes to heaven.” If Gervais hopes to bring cultural acceptance of non-belief to mainstream America, he faces an uphill battle. Polls show that many Americans distrust atheists and nearly half say they would not vote for one. Should it matter whether or not a politician believes in God? As mainstream acceptance of other minority groups grows, will atheists still lag behind?
Religion not necessary for morality
All too often religious people equate faith with moral behavior. As a Muslim, I can attest to the fact that this is not always the case. As a former atheist, I can also attest to the fact that I was raised not only with a strong moral orientation, but also with the theoretical background, critical thinking and analytical skills needed to make sound moral choices.
Common ground between religious and nonreligious Americans?
Members of these groups often disagree about the meaning of religious freedom and church-state separation, qualifications for public office, modes of civic participation, and a host of others public issues.
Live exemplary lives to add credibility
We as religious leaders should live exemplary lives to add credibility to our preaching. Give them fresh answers without any religious stigma attached. Listen to what the people have to say before giving your opinion to them. Accept the people who and as they are. Make religion lively and not stagnant.
Balancing the rights of Christians and atheists
The concept of church-state separation does not require the eradication of religiously informed moral values from public policy discussions any more than it requires that those involved in the discussion must believe in God.
Myth and the American psyche
The polls that show that Americans are bothered by the presence of atheists, and would not vote an avowed atheist into office, speaks to the way we live in myth.
Towards mainstream acceptance of atheists
There is much work for both believers and non-believers to do in helping to erase the distrust that the mainstream of the society has against atheists.
Lack of belief shouldn’t disqualify candidates
Americans, of all people, with our unflinching commitment to religious liberty, should refuse to disqualify candidates seeking political office who do not believe in God.
Who is supreme in a nation without God?
The fundamental problem is this: In the absence of God, who is in charge? If God does not have absolute authority and dominion over human life and human rights, then who does? The government?
Christian charity its own campaign against atheism
Religious organizations promote a single belief and an important worldview including the duty to help the poor and persecuted even if they do not share our religious belief.
Thomas Jefferson’s faith: a thought experiment
Let’s say you had a candidate who was skeptical of some portions of the Bible. Would you vote for that person?
Christians and their atheist neighbors
The Christian majority in the United States is called to love their enemies and so certainly must also love philosophically mistaken fellow citizens.
Time for atheists to ‘come out’
There’s no reason we should be left behind in the realm of public acceptance, especially when there are so many of us out there who don’t see any evidence for a god’s existence.
American melting pot: Atheists keep out?
Better to live in a society with a healthy mix of belief, skepticism, curiosity, argument, and confusion than one where God, or godlessness, is officially sanctioned.
America values diversity but struggles to embrace it
A person may not believe in the existence of God but could be a morally and ethically upright person while the converse could equally be true.
The atheist who has my vote
For many religious people, ritual and law and faith in God help cultivate and reinforce compassion and wisdom. But if the atheist running for office happens to get there some other way, he has this rabbi’s vote.
Atheists can know ‘the truth’ without calling it G-d
Quaker John Woolman, an 18th century mystic, wrote “There is a principle placed in the human mind which is pure and proceeds from God; deep and inward, it is confined to no religion nor excluded from any where the heart stands in perfect sincerity.”
Imagine atheist politicians
As an atheist, I just about always vote for political candidates who say they believe in God. Not because I’m impressed by their professed God beliefs, but because I have no other choice.
Vote for values, not beliefs
We cannot, as Queen Elizabeth I said wisely many centuries ago, cut windows into people’s souls. I can see what you do, but must take your word for what you believe. So if you are to be a public servant, show me what you do.
Dear religious Americans: How many atheists do you know?
Humanizing those with different religious and philosophical worldviews is essential to ensuring that pluralism is upheld for all communities.
A new dawn for atheists?
According to new research, “for the religious, reading that atheism was rather more common than they previously believed had a remarkable effect: it effectively abolished their distrust of atheists.”
Atheists must explain what they believe
In a time in which religion is often chosen purposely rather than assumed as a family inheritance, the proclamation of personal belief is an insight into a political figure’s values.
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