Why can’t the USA put their faith in an atheist?

photo credit: rweir

Pete Stark has broken the ultimate political taboo, as he came out of the closet, the veteran San Francisco Democrat recently became the first member of Congress to openly declare himself to be… an atheist!!

By admitting he is not religious, Stark has, if nothing else, proven he has no ambitions for the presidency. In a recent poll asking whether Americans are “ready for” a black, woman, Jew, or some other alarming minority to be president, atheists came in dead last. Only 14% thought Americans would vote for a person who doesn’t believe in God. How did they get there?

Until the Eighties, there was no religious test for the presidency in the USA.That changed with the rise of the religious Right, which insisted that traditional Christianity was the only way to frame the moral dimensions of a public issue. Today, it has become mandatory for Democrats and Republicans alike to disclose and discuss their personal faith, as if it’s a basic qualification for serving.

But the USA is a nation of laws and principles and individual liberty, not a nation of mullahs, priests, or ministers. In America, morals are not the exclusive property of any one religion, nor even of religion itself.

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A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. ~ Albert Einstein

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