The U.S. election set to take place a year from now will likely bring us a different kind of American president. The long list of hopefuls includes many firsts, including female, black and Mormon candidates. The 24-hour news networks have made a habit of filling their slow newsdays by speculatively asking “Is America ready for a (fill in the blank) president?” While Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton don’t seem to be facing any obstacles because of their unique candidacies, there is one type of politician conspicuously absent from the race: an atheist.
Though the U.S. is much-praised for its cultural and ethnic diversity, religious homogeneity has always been at the epicentre of American politics. Never, in some 230 years of independence, has there been a president outside of the Christian ranks. In fact, the only non-Protestant to ever hold office was John F. Kennedy, who considered himself a Roman Catholic.
Many Americans find the idea of electing a president without any religious affiliation to be unfathomable. Atheists and non-believers alike have long been considered amoral and untrustworthy lower-class citizens in the United States. Former president George H. W. Bush was quoted as saying, “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”
This statement of outright discrimination certainly has no place in a country that considers itself the world’s greatest democracy, especially coming from its president.
But apparently, a lot of Americans agree with him. Earlier this year, a Gallup Poll revealed that most Americans would vote for a black, Jewish or homosexual president before they’d vote for an atheist. While the world’s non-believers and non-worshippers make up a sizeable international minority, they represent an even smaller demographic in the U.S. Roughly 10 per cent of Americans disassociate themselves from any religion or deistic belief and that number continues to grow.
The tremendous success of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, reflects the fact that an anti-religion movement is spreading across America’s communities. Dawkins and Hitchens emphasize the remarkable contributions that scientific research has provided to virtually all spheres of life, while explicitly denouncing the existence of a higher power.
This message has been met with fierce opposition by America’s religious right, which for years has claimed authority over practically every issue in American politics, claiming to be acting in the name of God. Whenever politicians violate the individual rights of American women by banning abortion, discriminate against gays and lesbians by banning same-sex marriage, or put a stop to stem-cell research and funding, it’s justified through religion. They can legitimize violating American civil rights and liberties by claiming it’s all in God’s will.
As if political dominance is not enough, the religious movement has already infiltrated schools across America, denouncing evolution, an accepted theory within the scientific community, and replacing it with the concept of creationism. A separation of church and state is quickly vanishing, and it is time that someone stood up for the non-believing minority.
The Bush administration has not only initiated a so-called “holy” war on terrorism in Iraq, but has attempted to increase the influence of Christianity in America. George W. Bush seizes every opportunity to impose his evangelical faith onto the public and has been criticized for making important decisions based on his religion. Chief among his Christian policies are dozens of “faithbased initiatives,” programs which range from rehabilitating prisoners through Bible study groups and favouring with federal funds religious charities over non-religious ones.
So far, Bush’s plan of infusing American political life with his religious beliefs seems to be working. Recent statistics show that Americans are perhaps the most religious, out of all Western countries. Ultimately, a leader whose faith takes precedence in political affairs is not suited to be the president of the United States. America needs a tolerant, rational and humanistic leader, who will make well-informed decisions and keep spiritual beliefs private.
The nation’s domestic crises need to be addressed immediately, such as the millions of individuals who lack health insurance, an influx of illegal immigration, crumbling schools that fail to properly educate children, climate change, and the ongoing war in Iraq. What America so desperately aches for is a leader who will tackle these types of issues head on, rather than sit back and let God do all of the dirty work.
