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I thought there were no atheist congresspeople. This is great, so forgive me if I revert to shouting in excitement. Here we go: WE ACTUALLY HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE IN THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT! WOOT!

End WOOT

My money's on Barney Frank.

This is very exciting!!
At the same time Edwards announces he believes children should have a quiet time of prayer allowed during the school day. There goes my love for Edwards. I know it's early (very) but I'm not feeling excited about the next election for Pres.

Yes, Thanks Zac.

Of course, I can't endorse a candiate or party if I don't know who the candidate is or what party s/he belongs to. I'm just urging people to support ANY candiate who comes out as an Atheist vocally and generously.

But Zac is right. My opinion.

I completely support the candidtae. Just wanted to keep things honest. That and I wanted to say it before phreedm made a stink.

I agree this is big!
YAY.


And I hereby also pledge $500 of Dave's money to this congressperson's her reelection campaign.
Hell, make it $1000.

(Sorry Dave, I don't have that kind of money myself.)

Before we throw any support or money behind a politician, don't you think we need to know something about him or her? Just because that person is an atheist doesn't mean he or she is any more qualified or competent than anyone else.

I am really excited, of course, to have someone in Congress with the courage to "come out," but that alone will not earn my endorsement.

Dave, Zac may also be on track in pointing out that you may be treading on thin ice (or have broken through) when it comes to promoting partisan candidates from a 501c3-based platform.

Of course, I have no idea whether this blog is directly funded by American Atheists, and so forth, but a little caution on your part may be prudent.

That said, I've been watching the SCA website for the announcement of the search for the highest non-believer political office held, and I thank you for the post announcing their upcoming announcement.

I'm on pins and needles.

Wow! A congresscritter that has evolved beyond the monkey stage. I'm not ready to contribute without knowing who it is but will certainly be paying attention.

Optimistic me thinks this is great news. Pessimistic me has been censored. I an anxious to know more about this person.

Off Topic: Darwin's God by Robin Marantz Henig in the New York Times Magazine might make for a good (future) discussion thread. Hope this is not a dupe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/magazine/04evolution.t.html?ref=magazine

Cheers

I'm w/Chris Hart.
Does anyone remember the last fella? (Hint: I'm not talking about Tabash or Lipman).

WOW...what timing? How ironic is the timing of this press release...

Haven't we been talking about using a religious test to choose our candidates...?

How disappointing that someone vows to support a candidate merely on their religious views...kind of neutralizes any future and all past complaints of believers choosing their candidate merely on their religious convictions...

It will be interesting to see if this news release is more reliable then last summers "Rove to be Indicted"...

Comment from: chris hart

Before we throw any support or money behind a politician, don't you think we need to know something about him or her? Just because that person is an atheist doesn't mean he or she is any more qualified or competent than anyone else.

At least someone is thinking with their brain and not their........

But if we're taking guesses, for the Senate I'd guess Bernie Sanders of Vermont...

Too many congressman to filter through...

I'm guessing Rush Holt.

AC,
Me and my brother both think it's Barney Frank too or Nancy Pelosi if she counts.

Whoever it is, the important issue is what kind, if any, underwear do they favor.

Nancy Pelosi? I would like that but she was spewing evil christian crap after the election. However, all people are born as atheists and are atheists again after death, some of us figure it out along the way, so maybe it is Nancy's time.

Dennis Kucinich?

Dennis Kucinich, Barney Frank, and Bernie Sanders all sounded like not only good possibilities but freethinkers. I'm hoping whoever the mystery person is they might have a positive influence on others to leave the closet to wraps and mothballs.

I might point out (at the risk of being a wet blanket), that at the AA West Coast meet last year, Eddie Tabash spoke, & said (I paraphrase here), that "you shouldn't just vote for someone just because he's an atheist, especially if he's a loon."
At the time, the infamous Larry Darby was taking a run for attorney general in Alabama.
Larry's a holocaust denier, & has since become 'born again'.

karen:

Whoever it is, the important issue is what kind, if any, underwear do they favor.

You certainly have a thing about lingerie, don't you? ;)

Back to the issue of underwear or garments. Ever since I was a child I have thought it interesting that humans tend to cloth those parts of our bodies that do not distinguish us from the rest of the animal kingdom yet expose those (hands and head) that do. As a species we are very self conscious about our evolutionary family tree. Some much more so than others.

What: Amen to what you just said. I've always thought to myself that those fig leafs which came along after realistic (Greek) treatment of artistic form did a real injustice to both art form and to humanity.
KA: You are not a wet blanket in my book and are oh so right about not just supporting someone because of where they stand on the issue of theism when there are so many other issues and criteria.

I have been doing some research and Atheism is on a rise. the age group 15-30 there are alot of Atheist,Agnostic, and Freethinkers that are no longer afraid. so we will be seeing alot of more people in power who are Atheist's so this is just the start...

Just please don't let it be Nancy Polowski!
please, please, please.

Bet it is Wisconsin's State Sen. Tom Reynolds.

I wouldn't spend money on the re-election of people, just because they don't have a god belief. I'd want to know something about their political track record first.

Off topic:

Just spent a few minutes this a.m. viewing the Mr. Deity videos on YouTube.

Go to www.mrdeity.com for some great chuckles.

'cept phreedm. He'd only be offended by how ridiculous a little sane banter makes the whole xtian story look, and I just couldn't live with myself if he wasn't happy.

btw, phreedm is obviously sharper than any of us could guess. He's unmasked a Great Conspiracy between NGB and SCA re: timing. Well blow my socks off!

I've met "atheists" who also happen to be bigots, nuts or idiots.

I'm with karen. We definitely need to know what sort of skivvies this politician wears before jumping onto their bandwagon.

I'm going with Mazie Hirono of Hawaii or Steve Kagen of Wisconsin.

I was doing some reading here. It's been at least a year and phreedm is still here???? I'll probably just ignore him but I can't believe he is still doing his thing here.

off topic

KIDS IN CHURCH

3-year-old Reese:

"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,

Harold is His name.

Amen."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little boy was overheard praying:

"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.

I'm having a real good time like I am."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the christening of his baby brother in church,

Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.

His father asked him three times what was wrong.

Finally, the boy replied,

"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,

and I wanted to stay with you guys."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One particular four-year-old prayed,

"And forgive us our trash baskets

as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they

were on the way to church service,

"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"

One bright little girl replied,

"Because people are sleeping."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.

The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.

Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.

"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,

'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,

"Ryan, you be Jesus!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A father was at the beach with his children

when the four-year-old son ran up to him,

grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore

where a seagull lay dead in the sand.

"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.

"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.

The boy thought a moment and then said,

"Did God throw him back down?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wife invited some people to dinner.

At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,

"Would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.

"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.

The daughter bowed her head and said,

"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Off topic:

Verdict to be in any minute now in Lewis Libby perjury trial from Prettyman courthouse in Washington D.C.

Does not matter that he is found guilty of 4/5 charges. King George is going to parole him anyway.

Pardon? Think again. Even Bushky knows the potential political damage from such a move to his "Family Values" party. No, he'll sit on it through the appeals process.

Don't matter anyhow. The public now sees that a jury has been convinced that lies, distortion, and propaganda were part and parcel of the daily WH scheme of doing things. Journalists can no longer deny they have been used as dupes and stenographers.

We, The People, are stronger than we think. But... watch out, Iran. BushCo will definitely be gunnin' for you now as diversionary tactic.

Point of clarification:

I have been told by Herb Silverman (prez of SCA) that this is NOT an outing -- it is a willing declaration by a congressperson

I'm really torn on how much I want to support this person based upon their godlessness.

Any candidate you support is bound to agree with you on some issues and disagree on others. It's always somewhat of a compromise. It just matters, I suppose, which issues you choose to compromise on.

If political candidate X supports issues A, B and C, and I only support B and C, this might still be a good candidate for me, if I think B and C are important enough.

I think that having an atheist out in Congress is pretty important to me. They are likely, based on a religious stance, to support many of the things I support, as I often support them based on beliefs I likely have in common with fellow atheists.

So I'll wait to see what sort of person this atheist congressperson is, but it's quite likely that I will support him/her. It's not just voting for someone I have something in common with-- it's voting for someone I share very particular values with.

I suppose xtians don't see it very differently than that. But still, it would be nice to have some atheist support out there.

Well! Who is it?

I admire Dave's willingness to pledge money just on the principle of the person's willingness to admit his/her atheism. I'd be tempted to do the same thing, but with my luck it would turn out to be Sam Brownback or someone similar and then I'd have to kill myself (and presumably my kids would miss me...)

I think it's positive that there have been about a half dozen guesses as to whom this could be, rather than a general scratching of the heads and a deep search for even one candidate.

It'd be great if all the possibilities eventually turned out to be nonbelievers. But even if they aren't, at least they are comporting themselves in a manner which doesn't allow religiosity to overshadow their positions.

dhappleby
Simple fix...do what I did-pledge Dave's money instead of your own! ;)
(And if it's Brownback, he's been doing a mighty good acting job!)

Without knowing who this person is and what they stand for, I can't, in good conscience, pledge support for their position or re-election. I do however completely support their decision to 'come out' I think we should focus our attention on praising her/him for their conviction. Not that atheism is by any means a form of bravery (maybe intellectual bravery). But certainly coming out with a minority viewpoint so clearly mistrusted in the US takes some courage. Should the politics cohere, then all the better.

I wish we didn't have to wait another week to find out who it is!

Phreedm-

Haven't we been talking about using a religious test to choose our candidates...?

No, we have been talking about expressing opinions through votes. 'Religious Tests' in the legal framework we are discussing, only refers to institutions of the state barring individuals on principle. Not citizens rights as voters. Stop misusing this term because you cloud the issue. This is how rhetoric hijacks critical thought.

How disappointing that someone vows to support a candidate merely on their religious views...kind of neutralizes any future and all past complaints of believers choosing their candidate merely on their religious convictions...

I actually agree with you here.

I have to say... Barney Frank, being a gay Jew, is probably the Atheist.

"How disappointing that someone vows to support a candidate merely on their religious views...kind of neutralizes any future and all past complaints of believers choosing their candidate merely on their religious convictions..."

Yeah, like Phree... wouldn't jump on the bandwagon of any half-baked idiot who promises mandated school prayer and vows to obliterate abortion, even if they wore their clown makeup on the OUTSIDE. Who are you tryin' to kid Phree...?...

http://gods4suckers.net/

I just wanted to log my guess, in case there's a pool going...

I say: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who declared "unaffiliated-GLBT" to the question "Your religion?".

I posted Atheism and the American Congress on God is for Suckers! on January 10, 2007. But I got the urge to do the research on this subject from PettyLarseny
blog--he's even more sure than I that are more "other-closeted" atheists. See:
http://petty-larseny.blogspot.com/2007/01/keith-ellison-tip-of-iceberg_01.html

I'd like to see every "squishy" faux-christianist come clean!

i like to know what their positions are on the issues.i wish it was trent lott be nice to see some fellow conservatives come out.

Whoever it is, I hope they don't plan on being reelected.

Which sucks.

Thanks Dave for the information and the web site,
This is excellent news! Maybe this Atheist candidate will begin the positive change we as Atheists have long awaited for many years!

The first change I would like to see occur is changing all calenders to to start the week with Monday instead of Sunday.
The second change I would like to see occur is removing that false religious statement from the backside of U.S. legal tender currency.
And the third change, eliminate the church bells from ringing in every state.

Of course there are many changes I would like to see happen supporting the Atheists movement, these above are just the start of what could become a peaceful world without religious zealots attempting to brainwash non-believers.

American Atheists said it best, "No Gods, No Masters."

SunbeamAtheist

And just a glimpse of how religion allows crimes to go unpunished?

Libby was found, Guilty!

After the news referring to Libby' trial, Pat Robertson said, "No crime was committed."

Evidently, Treason is not a crime in the religious sense?

We need more Atheists in the political arena, now!

SunbeamAtheist

"Godless Dollars" latest news, the George Washington Dollars without the inscription, "In God We Trust."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_re_us/godless_dollars

Change is evidently starting very soon.

No more government funding for religious wars!

SunbeamAtheist

Seems the Adams coin is coming out soon also. Well on the patriotic side....

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html

Old news to some but cheers me up to read it.

sunbeam;
It's printed on the edge. (Sorry)

sunbeamatheist

The first change I would like to see occur is changing all calenders to to start the week with Monday instead of Sunday.

I'm with you on this! Sunday sure doesn't feel like the beginning of the week to me. And, if you make this change then the majority of xians would actually be honoring the "sabbath" because it would be the last day of the week.

It makes me chuckle when I hear xians talk about how wonderful the 10 commandments are, when I know they break them - making graven images (Jesus on the cross up on the wall of the church), not keeping the sabbath (which is SATURDAY, people), etc., etc.

i hope libby doesn't endup like vince foster.

DeepDiver,

Thanks for the web link, will check it out. Every link is a learning process for me and I refer back to past links to see what may be updated.

666,

Thanks.

Pixel,

I agree, the calenders need changing so that no one feels obligated to belong to any religion, I believe people are happier without any religion.

Xtians do worship those ten commandments. What really gets me about the xtians liking those ten commandments is xtians don't always admit to breaking any of those ten commandments, however, we as Atheists know the xtians break the ten commandments all the time. Wonder if we should remind them of their ten commandments when they break them?

I admire your stance on the statue of jesus on the cross, I believe those jesus statues on the crosses are really to intimidate the followers of the church. I cannot stand to see that either, that statue on the cross of jesus probably keeps a lot of people out of the churches, it is so horrible to view I feel.

reason,
Yes, I hope Libby doesn't end up like Vince Foster either.

There is no shame in evolving!

SunbeamAtheist

Thou shalt not have any gods before me. That was the first commandment. Then our founding fathers whip up a document basically giving americans the right to worship any god they wanted. They could also ignore any god they wanted to. Then the christians declare this right is founded on christian beliefs. This is ,to put it lightly,conflicting information.