Congressman Holds No God-Belief
Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) is first Congress member in history to
acknowledge his nontheism

http://www.secular.org/news/pete_stark_070312.html
[excerpt]

For Immediate Release
Contact: Lori Lipman Brown, (202) 299-1091
March 12, 2007

There is only one member of Congress who is on record as not holding a
god-belief.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged
his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for
America. Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means
Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee.

Although the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, the
Coalition's research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in
the history of the Congress. Recent polls show that Americans without a
god-belief are, as a group, more distrusted than any other minority in
America. Surveys show that the majority of Americans would not vote for an
atheist for president even if he or she were the most qualified for the
office.
[end excerpt]


Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, attributes
these attitudes to the demonization of people who don't believe in God.
"The truth is," says Silverman, "the vast majority of us follow the Golden
Rule and are as likely to be good citizens, just like Rep. Stark with over
30 years of exemplary public service. The only way to counter the prejudice
against nontheists is for more people to publicly identify as nontheists.
Rep. Stark shows remarkable courage in being the first member of Congress
to do so."

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You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm <http://members.tripod.com/%7Ecandst/theocracy.htm>

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm <http://members.tripod.com/%7Ecandst/theocrats.htm>

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

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. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote

"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"

That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.

It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.

*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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