| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Larry Mundinger" |
| Date: |
03 Nov 2004 05:15:38 PM |
| Object: |
A Statement from Ellen Johnson |
AMERICAN ATHEISTS
A Statement from Ellen Johnson
What Happened?
George W. Bush won the presidential election on November 2. How did
he do it? How did he sway so many Americans to see him as a better
candidate than all the others and particularly John Kerry?
Part of the answer that Atheists need to examine addresses the
electorates concerns about the importance of “moral values.”
Religious conservatives are a strong political force in America because
they are well organized and well funded. Because of this they have been
able to define the sociopolitical agenda in America and a large part of
that concerns “moral values.”
Even with a lagging economy, an unjustified war on Iraq, fifty
million Americans without health insurance and more, the religious right
has successfully made “traditional moral values” a pressing political
issue. But when they talk about “moral values” they are not talking
about “morals” per se. When we think about morals, we think about
character. We think about things like not stealing and not killing; we
think about helping others and being good people. That is not what they
mean. When religious conservatives refer to “morality” they are talking
about sociopolitical issues like abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia,
stem-cell research and of course state-church separation issues and all
that encompasses like organized prayers in the public schools, the Ten
Commandments on public property, the teaching of evolution and
creationism in the public schools, the removal of the words “under God”
in the pledge of allegiance, etc.
Religious leaders use the term “morality” to advance their
“political” agendas in America. They helped the Bush campaign to
successfully paint their candidate as being stronger to the American
people on those “moral values” than John Kerry. According to CBS News,
“When voters were asked which of several issues mattered most in
deciding their vote, roughly equal numbers picked the Bush campaign's
main issues of moral values (22 percent) and terrorism (19 percent), as
picked the Kerry campaign’s main issues of economy/jobs (20 percent) and
Iraq (15 percent).”
Unfortunately, the leaders of the abortion, gay, feminist,
scientific and other progressive movements have failed to address the
root problem, which hinders their causes and that is religion. They will
not challenge religion or the religious for fear of alienating their
religious supporters. Eleven states in this election passed referendums
outlawing gay marriage. How did the gays allow that to happen? It
happened because the gays want to befriend the religious and work with
the religious in the hope of being accepted and ultimately change minds
that way. It is a good idea in theory but we have just seen how
successful it is in reality.
We Atheists have always been there to support their causes when it is
they who should have been supporting ours, for that support would
redound to their benefit. All too often liberal cause groups are
reluctant to accept our support for fear of appearing anti-religious.
One lesson from the November election, however, may be that until these
groups more openly embrace the support of millions of Atheists and other
"seculars' throughout the nation, they will be forever spinning their
political wheels. Religion is the problem and not the solution.
Religion has been the driving force behind the anti-choice laws, the
opposition to stem-cell research, the opposition to gay rights and
state-church separation. As long as scientific, feminist, gay and other
such organizations fail to address the root causes of their issues then
they will not make much progress. Gays, women, and scientists want it
both ways. They want to advance their progressive issues and not
challenge the threat to them, which is religion. We Atheists need to
tell these leaders that religion is the problem and it must be
addressed. We need to step off the defense bus and get on the
offensive.
Before I worked with American Atheists I was a big supporter and
worked with an organization called Zero Population Growth.
Overpopulation is an important issue in America and conservative
religious ideology is part of the cause of it. Unfortunately, ZPG like
many other “liberal” organizations refused to, and still refuses to
address this issue head-on. I don’t think they have ever been
successful because of it and so I left the organization and joined
American Atheists.
Some people call Atheism a “radical” idea and it is. Radical means
“root” and Atheism addresses the root cause of the issues we struggle
over in America. Maybe the election would have turned out differently
if we all had challenged the basic notions of theology, redefined the
issues in America and took back control of the discussion.
Don't get me wrong; I think that Atheists and other "godless
Americans" need to engage actively in the political process now more
than ever, and address issues of public policy. We must do so smartly
and intelligently, and demonstrate political savvy. Most important of
all, we need to be focused on issues, not personalities (a principle
often ignored in the heat of political campaigns). We need to come
across as not only principled, but also articulate, well informed and,
above all, well organized. The task facing us in the next two to four
years is huge.
I say: "Bring it on!"
-- Ellen Johnson, President
American Atheists
--
Larry Mundinger (aa#451)
American Atheists Internet Representative <irep @ atheists.org>
<http://www.atheists.org/> <http://www.americanatheist.org/>
<http://www.atheistviewpoint.tv/>
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