Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman

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Topic:	Religions > Atheism
User:	"johac"
Date:	24 Mar 2007 06:58:02 PM
Object:	Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman

From alternet.
---
AlterNet
The First Openly Godless Member of Congress
By Ellen Goodman, Truthdig
Posted on March 24, 2007, Printed on March 24, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/49632/
He's not exactly a profile in courage. After all, Pete Stark is 75 and
has represented his liberal district near San Francisco for more than 30
years. It's unlikely that he'll be tarred and feathered or sent packing
for admitting that he's, well, a godless politician.
Nevertheless, Stark recently broke a political taboo. He became the
first member of Congress to say publicly that he doesn't believe in "a
supreme being." The next most powerful politician to identify himself as
a "non-theist" in response to a question by the Secular Coalition for
America was a school board president in Berkeley.
Some described Stark's admission as "coming out of the closet." Others
rued the fact that God was not on his side. A spokesman for the
Concerned Women for America unabashedly bashed him, saying that "a
Christian worldview is proper for a politician to have."
Not surprisingly, Stark has no ambitions for the presidency. In one of
those endless polls surveying whether we are "ready for" a black, a
woman, a Jew or others to be president, only 14 percent of Americans
believe we're ready for an atheist. What Stark has done, however, is
open a fresh chapter in this year's hefty book on presidential politics
and religion.
Until the Stark moment, what captured media attention has been the
subtle and not-so-subtle focus on Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. Will
his religion hurt his chances for the Republican nomination? How much?
I've been especially struck by this because I was a young reporter in
Detroit when Romney's father, George, was governor of Michigan. I barely
heard a peep about George Romney's faith, even though at the time his
church still banned blacks from the priesthood. I didn't even know
George's grandfather had five wives. In 1967, this Romney's campaign to
be the moderate, anti-war Republican president foundered after he
admitted being "brainwashed" about the Vietnam War. It had nothing to do
with faith.
What happened between 1967 and 2007? How did the matter of someone's
religion get back into the dead center of the public square, not to
mention the cable shows and the blogosphere?
The first Romney came to political prominence after the postwar growth
of ecumenical suburbs and after Jack Kennedy's famous speech: "I believe
in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute --
where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be
Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his
parishioners for whom to vote."
"I do not speak for my church on public matters -- and the church does
not speak for me," said Kennedy. JFK's pivotal speech and his election
seemed to take religion off the public table.
Fast forward to the rise of the Moral Majority. In 1976 Jerry Falwell
offered his very un-JFK opinion: "The idea that religion and politics
don't mix was invented by the devil to keep Christians from running
their own country." Over the following generation, the religious right
bonded to the Republican Party. It also grabbed the idea that
traditional religion was the only way to frame the moral dimensions of a
public issue.
So now we hear strategists calculating Mitt Romney's chances as The
Mormon Candidate. One reporter even asked Romney the Mormon version of
the "boxers or briefs" question: Does he wear temple garments, the
special underwear of his church? Romney himself reassured a meeting of
evangelical leaders that he too believes in the virgin birth, the
crucifixion and resurrection. Are these on the religious right's
ecclesiastical checklist for president?
In the past several years, many Americans have tried to decouple
"religious" from "right." Prominent evangelicals are trying to expand
the conversation about values from gay marriage to the environment, from
abortion to poverty. At the same time, there are progressives as well as
conservatives who connect their religious beliefs to public policy. And
Democrats too are urged to wear their religion on their sleeves and in
their speeches.
In 1967 and in 2007, the values of many -- maybe most -- Americans feel
rooted in religion. As a society we need to have conversations about
right and wrong. But in this increasingly pluralistic country we also
need to uphold the idea that morals are not the exclusive property of
any one religion. More controversially, we need to welcome the idea that
values are not the exclusive property of religion itself.
Pete Stark denies that it takes courage to become the first admitted
non-theist in the House. "What is courageous," he adds, "is to stand up
in Congress and say, 'Let's tax the rich and give money to poor kids."'
There are many ways to be a true believer.
---
http://www.alternet.org/stories/49632/
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.

User: "Enkidu"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	24 Mar 2007 07:17:19 PM

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
DE9E3E.16580224032007@news.giganews.com:

Some described Stark's admission as "coming out of the closet." Others
rued the fact that God was not on his side. A spokesman for the
Concerned Women for America unabashedly bashed him, saying that "a
Christian worldview is proper for a politician to have."

Ha! I have Tinkerbell on my side, and a Seussian world view.
--
Enkidu AA#2165
EAC Chaplain and ordained minister,
ULC, Modesto, CA
Doing my part to ***** off the religious right.
-- lapel button
.

User: "johac"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	25 Mar 2007 01:01:44 AM

In article <Xns98FDB012BE333255229@130.133.1.4>,
Enkidu <fox_rgfszx@trashmail.net> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
DE9E3E.16580224032007@news.giganews.com:

Ha! I have Tinkerbell on my side, and a Seussian world view.

Heh! I wonder what Rep. Mazie Hirono (D - Hawaii), a non practicing
Buddhist, thinks about that. Not to mention Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota),
Muslim, or the the various Jewish members of Congress think about
"Concerned Women of America"?
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.

User: "Doc Smartass"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	27 Mar 2007 10:02:52 PM

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in
news:jhachmann-0951D8.23014424032007@news.giganews.com:

In article <Xns98FDB012BE333255229@130.133.1.4>,
Enkidu <fox_rgfszx@trashmail.net> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
DE9E3E.16580224032007@news.giganews.com:

Some described Stark's admission as "coming out of the closet."
Others rued the fact that God was not on his side. A spokesman for
the Concerned Women for America unabashedly bashed him, saying that
"a Christian worldview is proper for a politician to have."

Ha! I have Tinkerbell on my side, and a Seussian world view.

Probably the same thing I do--a bunch of weak-minded women hiding behind
their mens' pants.
--
Doc Smartass, BAAWA Knight of Heckling
aa # 1939
AUTHORITARIANS ARE PERVERTS. Why?
--They consider themselves shepherds.
--They consider the rest of us sheep.
--Shepherds ***** sheep.
--Therefore AUTHORITARIANS ARE PERVERTS.
.

User: "johac"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	28 Mar 2007 12:09:20 AM

In article <Xns9900E05FE460Easkifyouwantit@216.77.188.18>,
Doc Smartass <gekido@astroskivviesboymail.com> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in
news:jhachmann-0951D8.23014424032007@news.giganews.com:

In article <Xns98FDB012BE333255229@130.133.1.4>,
Enkidu <fox_rgfszx@trashmail.net> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
DE9E3E.16580224032007@news.giganews.com:

Some described Stark's admission as "coming out of the closet."
Others rued the fact that God was not on his side. A spokesman for
the Concerned Women for America unabashedly bashed him, saying that
"a Christian worldview is proper for a politician to have."

Ha! I have Tinkerbell on my side, and a Seussian world view.

Probably the same thing I do--a bunch of weak-minded women hiding behind
their mens' pants.

I hope they realize if they win, the male fundy constructionists will
treat them no better than the Taliban treat their women.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.

User: "Harry F. Leopold"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	28 Mar 2007 08:05:57 AM

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:09:20 -0500, johac wrote
(in article <jhachmann-D1AD35.22092027032007@news.giganews.com>):

In article <Xns9900E05FE460Easkifyouwantit@216.77.188.18>,
Doc Smartass <gekido@astroskivviesboymail.com> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in
news:jhachmann-0951D8.23014424032007@news.giganews.com:

In article <Xns98FDB012BE333255229@130.133.1.4>,
Enkidu <fox_rgfszx@trashmail.net> wrote:

johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
DE9E3E.16580224032007@news.giganews.com:

Some described Stark's admission as "coming out of the closet."
Others rued the fact that God was not on his side. A spokesman for
the Concerned Women for America unabashedly bashed him, saying that
"a Christian worldview is proper for a politician to have."

Ha! I have Tinkerbell on my side, and a Seussian world view.

Probably the same thing I do--a bunch of weak-minded women hiding behind
their mens' pants.

I hope they realize if they win, the male fundy constructionists will
treat them no better than the Taliban treat their women.

But they are "special," the boys promised to treat them like one of the boys.
(Using a "special" meaning for "special.")
--
Harry F. Leopold
aa #2076
AA/Vet #4
The Prints of Darkness
(remove gene to email)
"I've got a pen and I'm not afraid to use it."-Charles R Ward
.

User: "johac"
Title: Re: Nice article on Pete Stark, "non-theist" Congressman	28 Mar 2007 01:29:56 PM

In article <0001HW.C22FD26500032658F0284530@news.central.cox.net>,
Harry F. Leopold <hleopold@coxyx.net> wrote: