The picture of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions that graces this Dailykos Diary (essay, for those not in the club) is complements of the Secular Coalition of America, that sent out this email to those such as myself, who have been active in the organization. It reads in part:
During his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) made appalling remarks about secular Americans and displayed a prejudicial attitude unfitting of an Attorney General. When asked by Senator Whitehouse if a secular person has “just as good of a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious,” Sessions replied that he was “not sure.”
This was disturbing, but before I wrote this diary about it I decide to do more checking, since it seemed to be a bit over the top. When I googled the subject, there was hardly any stories on it, which surprised me, but I did find this article on Slate that put the above paragraph in context. Let me excerpt from it:
Senator Whitehouse suggested that lists were already circulating suggesting there might be purges or demotions of certain career appointees in the Justice Department. Whitehouse wondered whether Sessions would have a problem with career lawyers “with secular beliefs,” having in the past criticized department attorneys for being secular. Sessions replied that he has used that language about secular attorneys to differentiate between people who recognize objective “truth” and those who take positions “in which truth is not sufficiently respected.”
Whitehouse replied, with a leading, and perhaps slightly conclusory question: “And a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious, correct?” At which point Sessions responded, “Well, I’m not sure.” For a few seconds the Senate chamber seemed to go completely silent.
Both Senators Franken and Bloomenthal did have an opportunity to question Sessions after this dialog, but neither of them chose to challenge him on it. Neither of them, or any other Democrats sought clarification, such as asking point blank, “Senator Sessions, do you have a predisposition to believe that those who do not believe in God are less trustworthy than those who do?” That would have required a yes or no answer, but also would imply that he questioner believes it is a serious breach of our nations principles to hold such a position.
I really want to know what our chief legal enforcer thinks about this issue, and I want his feet held to fire until he gives a clear unambiguous response. We’ve been though this before, as the Maryland Constitution had included a provision that no person could hold official office who did not believe in an afterlife (assuming where they would be judged by God) This provision was removed in 1838, and I would hate to believe that we are on the cusp of going back to that benighted era.
It’s time for Democrats to have the same impassioned conviction to protect Atheists as we do for other despised minorities.