Back in August, on my own site, I wrote about an incident in the North Carolina Senate race: Elizabeth Dole's campaign put out a press release attacking Kay Hagan for holding a fundraiser hosted by atheists, specifically Wendy Kaminer and her husband Woody. I wrote a letter to both campaigns with harsh words for Dole's strategy of demonizing atheists, and let them know I was making a donation to Kay Hagan in return.
I got a nice thank-you note from Hagan's campaign and a stock form letter from Dole's. But as I found out today, my efforts have attracted attention in a way I didn't at all expect.
The Dole campaign has put out a new ad, one that doubles down on its earlier anti-atheist bigotry, and to my utter amazement, I'm quoted in it. The Dole campaign ad spreads ludicrous and ridiculous lies about atheists, including that we want to ban Christmas, and calls us "the most vile, radical liberals in America". It tries to use my words, and those of other atheists who've called her out, to further demonize Kay Hagan and to stir up hate and prejudice among the religious right against her.
I'm an American atheist and a proud progressive, and I'm mad as hell at Christian fundamentalists who try to win elections by appealing to the worst sentiments in religion. We've had eight years of pious hypocrites who torture, wage preemptive war, and attack the constitutional rights of gays and women, and think they can mask their bigotry with shiny speeches about Jesus. As long as this works, they'll keep doing it, so we need to nip it in the bud this time. More than that, we atheists have played our part in American civic life and history, and I'm not about to sit back and let the Republican party's sleaze-mongers drag us through the mud.
We need to send a strong message that we won't stand for this sort of demonization. The Republicans want to mobilize their evangelical foot soldiers and make Democrats afraid to acknowledge atheists or stand up for the separation of church and state. We can prevent them from achieving either. With recent polling showing Kay Hagan in the lead, there's good reason to believe that this race is within our grasp. And now, for me, the Republicans have made it personal. Elizabeth Dole is treading water; now let's throw her some anvils.
I'm donating to Hagan today for as much as I can afford. Who's with me?