Attack of the Theocrats!: How the Religious Right Harms Us All—and What We Can Do About It (19 page)

So the word atheist is laden with cultural and historical connotations, rendering the word jarring to most people despite the fact that all these connotations have little to do with the simple definition of the word. Also, there’s a perception, perhaps in certain instances justified, that some activist atheists seek to attack people as stupid rather than to criticize policies and ideas as harmful.

The word itself is unrelated to all these perceptions. Brad Pitt is an atheist because he happens to not believe in a god or gods. This does not diminish in any way all the charitable work he does. Indeed, because Pitt focuses on helping people in the here and now, Pitt’s worldview may enhance his proven charitable ethic. Also, the label “atheist” and the seemingly more cuddly label “agnostic” need not be mutually exclusive. An agnostic atheist would simply be someone who lacks belief in a god or gods but who also claims no certainty informing their lack of belief.

In our quick focus on labels, though, what’s most important is often forgotten: respect and caring for people as people. My parents divorced when I was little, so I had the benefit of two mothers. My stepmom, Marilyn, came from a fundamentalist background, accepted and welcomed people of all stripes, and treated them with kindness and respect. And she treated me as her own son from day one. Agree or disagree with the church of her youth, time and again she taught me to be kindhearted and accepting of other people. I’ve always called her mom and she set an admirable example.

Sometimes I’m not sure Secular Americans follow that welcoming approach as well as we should. Even if you disagree with someone, you can joke, talk, be friends, and have a beer with them—and, most importantly, avoid personal vitriol. And, if you want to persuade someone, build that personal connection before whacking them over the head with our oh-so-important issues. My mom’s example can be valuable, indeed ennobling. If we take this approach, and remain consciously positive and helpful like my mom, maybe the perception of words like atheist will change.

Despite the often unfair stereotypes, the number of Secular Americans, according to all measures, is on the rise, particularly among the young. My focus is on policy not on labels, and I think the term agnostic is entirely comfortable and welcoming to many people. Although agnostics sometimes get no respect from theists and atheists alike, the good-old agnostic is simply saying that, with no absolute proof, I’m going to make no assumptions. More importantly, they are Secular Americans—people who, in their daily lives, expect nothing supernatural will intervene for or against them. It’s all up to us. It’s called personal responsibility.

Some might argue (okay, I might argue) that Eleanor Roosevelt was the greatest woman in the history of the world, and certainly a person widely and justifiably admired. Far more Americans than are currently counted in any poll as agnostic will agree with Eleanor Roosevelt when she said, “I don’t know whether I believe in a future life.” She went on to say, “You have to accept whatever comes, and the only thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.”

Once we get behind the facades and the wish not to offend, there are legions of patriotic, good Americans who think just as Eleanor Roosevelt did regarding life’s ultimate questions. Whether they embrace the label or not, these many millions are Secular Americans. They make decisions based on the realities of our world. From the perspective of Americans who think like Eleanor Roosevelt, the possibility that there’s some supernatural being somewhere running the show is not relevant to how they live their lives day by day.

Many religious labels are more cultural than a reflection of theology. There are millions of Americans, most of whom would never label themselves atheist—indeed, who might well label themselves Catholic or Jewish or Protestant or Muslim—who, as a practical matter, think an Abrahamic God intervening in our daily lives is as likely to be true as the myth of Thor—that is, they think the odds are vanishingly close to nil.

Those who do the analyzing, even when they are of good will, are sometimes implicitly biased against Secular Americans. For example, the book
American Grace
provides a valuable survey of America’s diverse religious landscape since the mid-twentieth century. Yet the authors, at one point, refer to the “nones” (people who don’t affiliate with a religion) as “extreme.” They contrast the “nones” with old-line Protestantism and Catholicism, labeling those denominations moderate. If you ask most people, they will label themselves as moderate (“It’s that other guy who’s extreme!”). And, thus, if something is labeled as extreme, then people tend to shy away from whatever is so labeled.

I fully accept that the term “extreme” should be used when warranted by evidence, but, say what you will, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are anything but extreme. These brilliant business leaders lack a God belief. Yet, they are thoughtful, charitable, and quintessentially moderate. The only thing extreme about them is that extreme smarts and extreme hard work led them to becoming extremely successful. Their moral values are as mainstream and American as apple pie.

The idea that people who take a scientific world view and have no God belief are “extreme”—or, to quote Lennon, “carryin’ pictures of Chairman Mao”—is a baseless stereotype. This notion is completely unrelated to what modern Secular Americans think.

As a politician in Maine, I earned support the old-fashioned way by visiting my neighbors and campaigning door to door—thousands upon thousands of doors. Through direct observation I saw that, except among fundamentalists, church attendance decreased significantly over my decade in office. My fellow Bangor residents were good people who cared about our local schools and about local charities. These very people, when I campaigned on Sunday morning, were increasingly cultivating their gardens, spending time with their families—and not going to church.

I observed this trend through another lens as well. Notwithstanding my opinions regarding some church policies, I love churches, and I admire the beauty of Bangor’s lovely St. John’s Catholic Church. (I love synagogues too and, though I’ve not spent much time in mosques, I’m sure I’d find them just as fascinating). My love for religious architecture stemmed in
part from a course I took at Notre Dame, in which the professor instilled an appreciation of the creativity and craft that went into building the great cathedrals of centuries past. It also stemmed from a wonderful book titled
Pillars of the Earth
. What greater opportunity was there in 1400 to contribute to something of timeless beauty and collaborative will? I know—“They built those European cathedrals on the backs of peasants.” Fair point, but the beauty stands. In Maine, low-income Catholics willingly contributed to the building of St. John’s. And yet, I could see that religious services were becoming almost archaic, something one might tip a hat to at Christmas, Easter, or Passover out of respect for older relatives, but not really something that was truly part of one’s daily life—and this trend made the people of Bangor no less honest or caring.

As the data makes clear, young people are increasingly secular, and they are as bright and idealistic as any generation I’ve seen, but they have taken the example of their parents’ generation even more to heart and are attending religious services even less frequently than their parents did. Even with the underreporting of Secular Americans, the growth of secularism is dramatic. This growth will continue with each passing generation. To paraphrase Mick Jagger, time is on our side. Secular America is on the rise. We must now press our advantage strategically. If we simply gloat about growing demographics, we will fail.

If we pursue an intelligent strategic plan, we will succeed, and America will flourish as it was designed—as a secular, constitutional Republic—as a nation that offers protections and benefits to both those who believe in the inerrancy of ancient texts and those who embrace Enlightenment values.

I think it’s time for us to just hand it over to God and say, “God, You’re going to have to fix this.” . . . I think it’s time for us to use our wisdom and our influence and really put it in God’s hands. That’s what I’m going to do, and I hope you’ll join me
.

—Rick Perry

The great decisions of government cannot be dictated by the concerns of religious factions. . . . We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs of state separate from the uncompromising idealism of religious groups and we mustn’t stop now. To retreat from that separation would violate the principles of conservatism and the values upon which the framers built this democratic republic
.

—Barry Goldwater

If you’re like me, you’ve often heard a particular Margaret Mead quote from friends on the Left, or at least noticed it on a poster taped to the office wall of a liberal nonprofit: “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” And yet, if there’s one group to whom this quote very aptly applies, it’s the so-called Religious Right. In the late 1960s they looked at America, and the fundamentalists did not like what they saw: women defying the roles mandated by the Bible; gay activists rearing their “perverted” heads to fight for rights in violation of biblical law; and civil rights groups successfully fighting against biblically “commanded” segregation.

From the perspective of fundamentalists, the social justice preaching of a Martin Luther King or a Robert Kennedy flew in the face of their most
essential values—a perspective vociferously echoed by Glenn Beck in recent times. As fate would have it, King and Kennedy were struck down. Some might say it was God’s will. (My father remembers to this day a man across the street from the house where I grew up in Orange County, California, who said to my dad of Robert Kennedy, “I hope that son of a bitch gets shot like his brother.”) Regardless, if Robert Kennedy had lived to secure his party’s nomination, the polls showed him defeating Nixon in a walk. That wasn’t a risk fundamentalists could take again. And so a small group of committed people, people at the time considered little more than an antiquated and rejected relic of the 1925 Scopes Trial, rose faster and stronger than any phoenix and transformed America in their own image.

Forget about posters taped to the wall at your local nonprofit. The fundamentalists got the job done. So much so that, as the megachurches grew and grew, the politicians listened and listened like never before.

In August 1980 presidential candidate Ronald Reagan gave his historically pivotal speech to a vast crowd of fundamentalist ministers in Dallas, Texas, in which he sought to tear down a wall—the wall separating church and state. Knowing that religious organizations are not supposed to engage in political endorsements, Reagan made a statement that continues to echo to this day: “I know that you can’t endorse me, but . . . I want you to know I endorse you and what you are doing.” The Republican Party, with that speech, crossed a theocratic Rubicon and has never looked back.

As a politician, I know when to tip my hat to my competitors, and I tip my hat to the fundamentalists. I give the theocrats their deserved due. It’s the only sportsmanlike response.

As executive director of Secular Coalition for America, an organization of which few Americans have ever heard, I intend to see them and raise them. Why be alive if you don’t want a challenge?

America is the greatest nation on earth—because of our constitutional ideals and our founding principles. It’s time for Secular Americans to earn our nation’s respect, admiration, and understanding. It’s time for America to know that secularists seek not to attack and disdain our country, but rather to serve our nation at this critical juncture. The struggle of gay people for civil rights has contributed greatly to America’s journey toward meeting its best ideals. Gay-rights activists started small and grew unexpectedly powerful. Today Secular Americans are the right people at the right to time to take a leadership role in America’s next great step forward. Secular Americans can, and will, play a prominent role in leading America back to its highest shared ideals: freedom, reason, equality, justice, compassion, and passion.

The fundamentalists made their voices heard. How do we secularists do even better? Here’s how:

Our Secular Decade: A Patriotic Plan to Reclaim America

Increased advocacy on public policy issues must drive our entire strategy. Successful advocacy isn’t only about citing statistics or promoting statutes. Our success requires sharing and communicating stories—stories that vividly demonstrate the adverse and real effects of religious privileging in public policy.

Consider Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. 256 words. What Lincoln did was tell a story of our people and our country—concisely and powerfully.

Jack Kennedy sent a man to the moon. He didn’t lead with statistics and statutes. He inspired with a story. He told the story of boys traveling across the Irish countryside. When they came to an orchard wall that was too high and too difficult to permit their voyage to continue, they took off their caps—and tossed them over the wall—and then they had no choice but to follow them. America’s best scientists were not at all certain how to technically achieve Kennedy’s dramatic goal, especially not within ten years. But it was the drama, excitement, and specificity of Kennedy’s passionate, inspiring vision and clear goal that inspired relentless work and innovation.

Now, as Gerald Ford said, I’m no Lincoln. And as Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle, I’m no Jack Kennedy. But since 2009, I’ve been listening and learning, reading, then listening more. In crafting a strategy that will bring secular success, I’ve been listening carefully to Secular Americans and to the mood of all Americans. From that listening, I find that we must better illustrate in our public discourse the real experiences of Americans. Our central public policy strategy must be to tell stories of how our fellow citizens—real people—are harmed by the privileging of religion in law.