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 A voice vote to change the DNC party platform turned to chaos Wednesday night.
September 6th, 2012
03:24 PM ET
Conventions leave atheists asking: What political party represents me?By Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – This convention season has not been good for atheists. The word "God" was reinserted in the Democratic platform after it had been removed. A plan to raise atheist billboards in the convention cities was stymied by opponents. And though there were preachers and rabbis and other religious leaders opening and closing each day of each convention, there wasn’t an avowed atheist talking up unbelief on either convention’s speaking list. The political lockout has left many nonbelievers asking, “What political party represents me?” “We are deeply saddened by the exclusion of a large number of Americans by both parties,” said Teresa MacBain, a spokeswoman for the group American Atheists, in an interview on Thursday. “It amazes me that in modern-day America, so much prejudice still exists.” After word spread Wednesday that Democrats left God out of their platform, atheists rejoiced. “Truly amazing news,” wrote Loren Miller on Atheist Nexus, a popular atheist blog. “The Republicans remain in the firm grasp of right-wing Christian religiosity, and I really don't know what it's going to take to free them from it.” But the convention committee immediately received huge pressure get God back in the platform. Even President Obama, according to CNN reporting, said, “Why on earth would that have been taken out?” when he first heard of the omission. In an awkward session that required three voice votes on the convention floor, the Democrats opted to add “God” back to the platform. For atheists, the Democrats were seen to be taking away a hard-fought victory. “We had 24 hours of joy as we felt (that) finally our government values all people,” said MacBain. “But that was short-lived. The vote last night angered many atheists and left them feeling excluded once again.” Online, atheist websites and Facebook pages went from upbeat to downcast as news spread of the platform revision. “Obama was the first president to acknowledge non believers,” Mark Musante wrote on the American Atheists’ Facebook page. “I wish he would stick to his guns.” Musante was referring to Obama’s 2009 inauguration speech, when the president said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.” Beverly Sitherwood, on the Friendly Atheist blog Facebook page, accused the Democrats of “Pandering for power.” Some atheist leaders used the platform defeat as a rallying call. “I guess a tiny step was too much to ask for,” David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, told CNN. “This was a clear message to the 16% of the voting population - we don’t count. Well, guess what, Dems - we do. And we vote.” Silverman says that 16% of the voting public identify as nonbelievers. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 12% of the electorate in 2008 was made up of people with no religious affiliation, though experts say the number of avowed atheists is much smaller. While acknowledging atheists, Obama has given platforms to high-profile religious leaders, including Rick Warren, a megachurch pastor who prayed at his inauguration, and Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is giving the final prayer of the convention on Thursday night. American Atheists’ plans to raise billboards ridiculing the presidential candidates’ faith ended in failure. After the group put up billboards in Charlotte, North Carolina, the site of the Democratic National Convention, last month, it quickly removed them due to “physical threats to not only our staff, but the billboard company as well.” American Atheists had also planned on a billboard in Tampa, Florida, to coincide with the Republican National Convention there. But American Atheists said that all the billboard companies in Tampa rejected a sign taking aim at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. Perhaps because of the Republican Party’s ties to conservative Christianity, atheists tend to be Democrats. According to a 2012 Pew study, 71% of Americans who identified as atheist were Democrats. “The Republicans who spoke at the RNC seemed more like televangelists than politicians,” MacBain said. “The message was clear from the RNC: Get God, or get out.” The Republican’s 2012 platform mentions God 12 times, many of which describe the “God-given” rights that the Republican Party says are inherent to the American idea. Though most atheist groups claim that there are closeted atheists serving as representatives and senators, only one has come out as such. In September 2007, Rep. Pete Stark, Democrat of California, affirmed his atheism in a speech at the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University. soundoff (3,922 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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i would love to see some of your comments the next time the catholic church is told to shut up when they are complaining about contraceptives.
What's the problem with Atheist? You don't believe in God. Fine. Someone believing in God is bothering you? If you don't have a God then think you have one less thing to worry about and go see what you can do to make this country better.
The stop influencing laws with ancient religious myths.
I agree. If the only thing that motivates these people is to eliminate any reference to God, stay home. Right now we have bigger issues in this country than your narrow minded demands
Religion and politics should NEVER mix. It's not just the word "God" that bothers atheists, it's the way belief negatively affects our lives via religious elected officials.
Our laws are taken from the Bible.
I'm atheist and I don't feel left out. I'll be voting for Romney this election.
Atheist – Gary Johnson. Until people realize it's not left versus right, but freedom versus tyranny, we're going to be in the same mess. Both the Republicans and Democrats want a power grab.
I agree JJ. The President has his beliefs and he wants that included. It is STUPID, to try and make this an issue. Out of all the important things our citizens are fighting for, athiest whine about this – as if it is denying someone healthcare, or their right to vote. If you don't believe, then don't. It's not going to stop this President's, BLESSINGS from flowing.
Why do atheists feel the need to be so proactive in this? If you don't want to acknowledge God, just roll your eyes when He's mentioned. There is no basis for your moral convictions or philosophies of government, so what exactly are you fighting for?
So now Democratic politicians have to pretend to be Christian to appeal to stupid people too? That's great, time to join one of those worthless 3rd parties.
completely agree with you. just move on and stop trying to persuade everyone to what they want.
Unfortunately JL, this is just the beginning. Their moral philosophies and governmental ideas/demands will soon grow stonger.
There's no basis for your belief system either except what your imaginary friend told you to do, so what precisely are YOU fighting for?
*missey, unfortuanetly you are correct. there will be no limit to how much they push their own beliefs on children, and their children, until the time has come.
Whats up with religious people thinking atheists are religious because they are members of a group? Are religious people not the dumbest people on the planet? Lets take an IQ test of a thousand believers and a thousand non believers and settle this debate once and for all. Post the findings on the front page of every news site around the world and be done with it.
I am not dumb, I am educated. I have a job, I function. Why do you feel the need to belittle??, On religion and God. You have no obligation to believe. You have the RIGHT not to believe. Why do you have the need in yourself to not give the believers ,the right to believe?? I agree with the above, just roll your eyes and then, ? what, nothing if it is the way you think.
I have only one comment to all atheists: If you're wrong, it will be Hell to pay!
I have one comment to Mike: if you're wrong, meh. Just a life wasted in subservience to something that doesn't exist.
Mike, there are literally thousands of different religions and faiths out there. How do you know you chose the right one? Wouldn't there be hell to pay, literally, if you were wrong?
Seriously Pascal's wager is one of the must retarded arguments that apologists have when defending Christianity.
*most
ooooh the athiests feel left out, good for them. stop marketing your anti-god signs and go do something with your lives, like try to feel important.
Isn't it Christianity that says "You're nothing without God"? Everyone is important, it's just sad that people have to use religion in order to feel that way.
it's not even about that. but who the hell would post a column saying "athiests feel left out"? i'm pretty sure alot of athiests don't feel left out, just a single minded wingbat. idc what athiests do with their lives, it's their life and let them live it
it's just another way to stir the pot between religious and athiest people. can't stand the media much longer.
also gregory, for the record, your speaking about catholic. not christian. just for the record.
Catholics are Christians.
“We are deeply saddened by the exclusion of a large number of Americans by both parties,” said Teresa MacBain, a spokeswoman for the group American Atheists, in an interview on Thursday. “It amazes me that in modern-day America, so much prejudice still exists.”
And you're not prejudiced against Christians by wanting God out of conversations or platforms?! Hypocrite!
Yet another persecuted Christian. It's scary being in the majority.
When religion and politics mix, it usually leads to something akin to the Taliban.
I agree with you totally. I was a Christian until I felt they were acting more like the taliban than what Jesus preached. He did not preach about burning abortion clinics and killing people. He preached about love thy meighbor. The Christians have leaned so far to the right they are no longer recognizable. The fact that our politicians are following them off the cliff scares me. Huckabee and others scare me. They's ignoring every religion except their own. This country was not built on Christianity. The founders were Deists but they ignore that and lie. I've never heard so many lies from so many politicians.
Welcome to 'MURICA the land where the majority are Jesusfreaks.
I wonder if the DNC and RNC will add Zeus, Krishna, Thor, Horus, and 2,800 other gods people believe in to their platforms. The thing is...nobody knows, so why settle on a guess as truth? We should all be looking for the truth.
If God exists then can we agree that God would be;
Omnipotent, Omninescent and Omnipresent.
Therefore outside time and space.
Since we are inside time and space we cannot ever know "The Truth"
"We had 24 hours of joy as we felt (that) finally our government values all people,” said MacBain. “But that was short-lived. The vote last night angered many atheists and left them feeling excluded once again.”
Since when Atheists started talking about Joy,Sadness,value,anger, acceptance and love. For them all feelings is a chemical reaction within the body they generally term such feelings to Nausea and these feelings not regulated by whats happening around them. And for them human body is just a chemical compound which Evolves and constantly tries new way to sustain in the changing world.
exactly. atheists of all people should be able to ontrol their emotions because they should understand there is no higher significance other than chemistry. but they get so ornery.
We atheists are, like, people too, man. Get real.
Do you really believe that people that don't believe in an invisible sky Daddy don't feel joy, sadness, love, sympathy etc....? Is it possible to be that stupid and use a computer?
If your are like other people who knows what is good and bad. Has joy and sadness. Feels lonely and accepted/loved. Wow, you just identified yourself as a confused Atheist.
Never mind, I just re-read your post and judging by the spelling, grammar, punctuation and randomly capitalized words, it is pretty obvious you are a certifiable moron.
Thats what my point is. If you have feelings like other people, then you don't fall in the generally accepted definition of Atheist.
Just that you are not religious or don't follow a specific religion.
Being not religious and being an Atheist are two different things.
You obviously know nothing about atheists. And, you really fit everything you don't understand into a nice little stereotyped package, I guess that keeps you from having to learn anything.
Someday America will escape the ignorance and oppression of religion. Today's not that day.
wanting to deny me my right to be spiritual, which comes as naturally to me as breahing, is just as ignorant and oppressive don't you think?
Because Pinewalker is fu*ked up in the head.
I didn't say anything about banning religion, as long as religious beliefs stay 100% out of public policy, I'm fine. The problem is that in this country religion is a HUGE factor in politics. For example, why is gay marriage even an issue? Because of religion. That example is concrete proof the American politics are affected by religion. In truly secular societies like the free democracies in western Europe gay marriage is a non-issue. When will America join the modern, enlightened world?
Probably never as long the three abrahamic desert blood cults keep influencing political decisions.
I said this before, but even though I'm not a fan of religious language in the party platform, I don't feel all that put out by it. I don't vote based on whether or not a candidate shares my religious views (and I wish fewer people did). I'm also not among the people who need politicians to convince them that they grew up dirt poor (why is that considered a virtue, anyway?) and that they love Jesus with all their hearts and ask him to help them make decisions (that terrifies me, actually).
I vote for people that promote reliable policy, which means policy based on informed thinking and empirical observations. I can't vote for a party that denies basic science (in everything from evolution to climate change to ovulation and pregnancy), or that denies basic math (you can cut taxes and increase spending without increasing the deficit), or that, frankly, are a profound embarrassment to our country on the world stage (the party of the Bush administration). I can't vote for a party that can see how a policy has failed repeatedly throughout history and still insist that it works; or one whose fundamental philosophy is "every man for himself" and "selfishness is a virtue." Regardless of the word "god" I still feel my priorities are pretty well represented by the Democrats, especially relative to the alternative.
Just proves once again that you cant pander to all of the people all of the time.
Wait til next week Atheists, Obama will pander to you then. And that will get your vote 8-*
For a long time I did not believe in God. Then I had somethings happen that showed me that there is indeed something or someone out there that was a higher power. However, during the time i was an atheist it did not bother me that other people believed in God.
What evidence of god's existence did you find?
Which "god" exactly? The abrahamic god of the three desert blood cults or some imagined up deity?
"Something happened" isn't proof of a god, it just means something happened. It's not like atheists are denying the moon or sun doesn't exist, they're saying an invisible man that nobody knows exists probably doesn't exist.
It not something I can describe in words. Somethings happened that could not have happened unless someone or something else set them in motion.
atheists, chill out. none of it matters. you believe that if you die, you just become a pile of dirt. you won't remember or care anything that happened. so why stress? whatever happened in your life is irrelevant.
atheists – for a bunch of people who should care the least because nothing matters, they stress the most. comical.
Disbelief in God does not lead to a sense that nothing matters you ignorant wretch.
You are the worst kind of ignorant.
A) Why do atheists not care about anything?
B) Why do you think they stress?
C) why do you compare EVERYONE ALIVE to how you feel about god?
Thank you.
HAHAHAHAHA!
more atheists stressing out w/ no rational reason to! i love it.
keep it coming.
Everything matters! Every waking moment of our lives matter because this is the only one we get. We are good because we are good not because some magical fairy in the sky demands the we be good.
When our government is full of people who are making decisions based on a delusional belief in a supernatural higher power, then we atheists definitely have to care, because the beliefs of those in government affect us. Being an atheist is all about getting the most out of your life, because it's all you have. We should not have to have the quality of our lives diminished by laws and policies made by politicians with religious beliefs. Church and state need to be 100% separate in a truly free society- until this is the case in the USA, the USA is not truly free.
Actually I'm not atheist, I just hate ignorance.
And you're making fun of people who question you... It sounds like you're the ones who's stressed Mr. Rob, because you can't answer simple questions.
does anyone see a recurring theme with all atheist posts....the schoolyard bully word ignorant. If you don't belive what I belive you are ignorant. It doesn't matter that they believe in black holes which have never been seen, photographed or proven....but because we "feel" their effects that's proof enough. We "feel" God's effect around us in every way imaginable...but that's not proof, that just, well, ignorant.
@rob
Atheism is not nihilism. Just because you can't see how anything matters with out your favorite sky faerie does not mean that the rest of us must rely on mythology for importance in our lives.
guile, you buffoon:
1) are you illiterate? i just said why not. so you need to answer why atheists should care about anything.
2) you tell me. you're the atheist.
3) when did i ever mention anything about my feelings about god? how do you know i'm not agnostic? you assume alot of things.
Why are YOU stressing out? When you die apparently you get to go to some magic place called heaven where everything is nice and white and fluffy. Nothing on earth matters once you're in heaven, so why stress out? Meanwhile, I'm gonna become dirt when I die. Life on earth is all I got so while I'm here, I'll take care of my country and my self thank you very much.
hubert, i've read a lot of atheist stuff. it's comical.
"life doesn't have to be meaningless – make the most of it. set goals for yourself" from one atheist book. HAHAHAHAH!
from the existential atheist champion, albert camus, the myth of sisyphus – "feel the rock as you push it uphill. live in the moment. when the rock rolls back down, do it again."
really? so this the best stuff atheists can come up w/? so pathetic. really. pathetic.
gdal, well, try no to get hit by a bus. it would be a shame if a walking pile of dirt turned into an inanimate pile of dirt.
not really.
chemically a dead body & live body are identical. atheists can't logically explain why a human life has value. they can only emotionally explain it. but they claim they're so logical.
whatever.
Rob, again, I'm not atheist. And you yourself said atheists should care the least, so I asked why, it's very simple.
@Rob
Like I said, just because you need a myth to give your life meaning does not mean that the rest of us do. Every human, heck every living creature, creates its own meaning. You found the task to be to daunting so you handed the responsibility for your meaning over to a myth. I don't blame you forging your own meaning is a demanding task, it takes a great deal of emotional and mental fort.itude. But remember just because you are not capable of such a feat does not mean that everyone is so inept.
Rob, why are you SO ANGRY towards atheists? Did one of them touch you in a no no spot when you were younger? YOU need to chill out and stop stressing.
If you're intelligent enough to be agnostic or atheist, the Presidential Conventions really are of no concern. You will have already realized that it's Congress which should be at the center of your focus. Therefore, this article is invalid. Good day gentlemen.
giant difference between agnotics & atheists. to clump them together shows what a mental paperweight you are.
All agnostics ARE atheists, because if you're not sure a higher power exists, then you don't believe in it. Believers are certain, the rest are non-believers: atheists.
really alan? how many agnostics say i'm a agnotic atheist? none. they all say i'm not atheist, i'm agnostic.
how many atheists say i'm an atheist agnostic. none. they allsay i'm not agnostic, i'm atheist.
c'mon alan. do better than that.
who cares? If they are Atheist they should not take offense to anyone else having a different opinion
So according to your logic, people who believe in God should constantly take offense for people having different positions?
Well, Guile, it's a good thing most of them do then.