The CNN story “There are now as many Americans who claim no religion as there are evangelicals and Catholics, a survey finds” caught my eye but even before I read it the results didn’t surprise me. Those who are called “nones” by pollsters are a “diverse group made up of atheists, agnostics, the spiritual, and those who are no specific organized religion in particular.” Their rejection of organized religion is the common thread they share.
I live in a 450-resident continuing care retirement community which was founded 60 years ago by a group of Methodist ministers. It is now a very politically progressive community. We are, thankfully, 98% anti-Trump. The largest percentage of residents are probably church going believers. Still, my sense is that the survey numbers reflect the population where I live. We all consider our belief in the dignity of humankind to be our most important conviction by far.
This being said by way of introduction brings me to the subject of religion in politics.
Considering the numbers it is a fascinating political reality that just about every politician professes to be religious, including of course Trump who only discovered religion when he decided to run for president. If the poll is correct among politicians and they actually represent all of Americans, about a quarter of them are hypocrites.
That is with 10 exceptions. I discovered from the CNN article that there is a group of, dare I say daring, politicians in the House of Representatives that have formed a group called the Congressional Freethought Caucus which Wiki tells us was “established in April 2018 to foster science and reason-based solutions and to defend the secular character of government.” Jamie Raskin and Zoe Lofgren are the only well known members. I am familiar with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Dan Kildee, and Pramila Jayapal from interviews on MSNBC. These are the current members:
These are their goals:
- To promote public policy formed on the basis of reason, science, and moral values
- To protect the secular character of our government by adhering to the strict Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state
- To oppose discrimination against atheists, agnostics, humanists, seekers, religious and nonreligious persons, and to champion the value of freedom of thought and conscience worldwide
- To provide a forum for members of Congress to discuss their moral frameworks, ethical values, and personal religious journeys[7]
Coordinator of the Freethought Equality Fund Political Action Committee, Ron Millar, who participated in planning the caucus, stated specific aims the aforementioned PAC "wants to see", including "action against climate change"; "access to contraception and abortion"; and "maintaining" the Johnson Amendment (which establishes that tax-exempt non-profits like religious organizations cannot endorse political candidates), among others.[8]
They state their mission as follows: “to “proudly and unapologetically standing up for the nonreligious, these Members of Congress (and strike) a powerful blow against the de facto religious test that keeps so many secular Americans from seeking public office."
You can read their website, secular.org here.