DaveGWH's blog

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) has come out of the closet, but not in the way we typically use the term. Stark, who, last fall, accepted the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy’s “Humanist of the Year” award, is the first congressman in history to openly acknowledge his atheism.

The lawmaker’s public disclosure of nonbelief comes at a time when books by so-called “New Atheist” authors — Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Tufts professor Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens — are topping bestseller lists.

The Post-Theological Umbrella
by David Niose
Published in the Humanist, January/February 2008:

Surely one of the biggest barriers keeping humanism from being a more prominent force in the United States is its nontheistic character. Two relevant surveys provide compelling proof that Americans just don't feel good about openly rejecting belief in a divinity:

A University of Minnesota survey in 2006 found atheists are the most distrusted and disliked minority group in the country.

An American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) from 2001 indicates that over 13 percent of the population identifies as secular/nonreligious, but only 1 percent identify as atheist, agnostic, or humanist.

The University of Minnesota results no doubt help to explain the results of the ARIS survey. That is, the fact that atheists are so vilified explains why only less than 1 percent of the population will identify as atheist, even though over 13 percent will identify as secular/nonreligious.

For humanist activists trying to advance their worldview in a culture that discourages open nontheism, there have traditionally been two ways of dealing with this issue. Some do so by trying to hide the nontheistic nature of humanism, avoiding discussion of nontheism with the hope that maybe nobody will notice it. This approach rarely works, however, because most discussions of humanism with nonhumanists inevitably result in the question: So are humanists atheists?

An article about humanism and Greater Worcester Humanists in the T&G, Sept. 13, 2007:

READ THE ARTICLE

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) will give his first-ever public remarks on becoming the first openly nontheistic member of US Congress. Stark, a senior member of the influential Ways & Means Committee, a strong advocate for religious liberty and church-state separation, and a veteran of the US Air Force, will deliver the 15th annual Alexander Lincoln memorial 'Harvard Humanist of the Year' lecture. September 20 at 7:30 p.m., Emerson Hall, Room 105.