Christian Seniors Bash Atheists
For Immediate Release
Contact: Herb Silverman
March 15, 2007
In response to certain statements made regarding this week's announcement by the Secular Coalition for America that Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) is the highest-ranking openly nontheistic elected official in the nation, the Coalition's President Herb Silverman makes the following statement:
The Secular Coalition for America regrets that the Christian Seniors Association (CSA) have chosen to use the occasion of Congressman Pete Stark's "coming out" as a nontheist to propagate misleading and false information about nontheists.
Stark's acknowledgment that he does not believe in a supreme being is significant because open nontheists traditionally have been marginalized and excluded from political activity in America. His impeccable record as a public servant may go a long way to dispel the public's negative image of nontheists, who are good people and good citizens.
Rather than praise Stark's honesty, CSA issued a public declaration that this is a "sad first" and suggested that Stark should have stayed in the closet about his personal beliefs. How ironic that, while claiming to stand for religious freedom, identical with freedom of conscience, CSA feels it must admonish a congressman for speaking candidly about his true beliefs.
Moreover, CSA uses the occasion to suggest that Stark's honest disclosure must be part of a plot to "throttle any child who wants to bow his or her head in prayer" or to "bash Christians." These fear-based accusations can only be seen as attempting to incite hostility toward nontheists, who wish nothing more than to be treated as citizens deserving of a place at the table in the American public dialogue.
CSA would no doubt be thrilled to see nontheists remain in the closet, and the American public continue to view nontheists in a negative way. But nontheists will keep working relentlessly to reverse and correct such misperceptions and distortions. We thank Congressman Stark for doing his part to assist this cause.