Even though we were pretty much told to sit down and shut up by nearly every political candidate running, we still voted.
Barna voter survey: Atheists and Agnostics
The second largest faith group in America, trailing only the Christian segment, is atheists and agnostics. These religious skeptics represent about one out of every ten adults. About four out of ten skeptics were registered as Democrats, four out of ten as independents and just two out of ten as Republicans.
Three-fourths of atheists and agnostics (76%) gave their vote to Sen. Obama, while only 23% backed Sen. McCain. That is a step up from the level of support Democrats have previously received from skeptics. In 2004, 64% of atheists and agnostics voted for Democratic challenger John Kerry.
Most of the other atheists and agnostics I know online sent money to various candidates like Obama. There were special pleas online to send money to the coffers of Kay Hagan, who was fighting off Liddy Dole’s special brand of hate. Of course, Hagan turned around and offered up her own special brand of hate right back by suing Dole for slander – Because Dole called her an atheist.
Hang on. When did I become a thing of slander?
Colin Powell got it right for Muslims when he said that Obama is ‘a Christian, but so what if he’s were a Muslim?’.
No one stepped up to the plate for Atheists, but most of us were not surprised. We rolled our eyes, joked, and laughed. We didn’t burn shit or riot in the streets. We barely made a peep outside of our own circles. (There are bus sign campaigns going on now, which I think are tacky. Bleh.)
We’ve been around a long, long time. We were here during the time of Zeus and Odin. We walked silently aghast beside Shamans, chuckled to ourselves as Priests burned the best seeds for better crops, and raised our eyebrows as the Minoans jumped upon bulls. We wondered at the nature of the world around us, but did not believe that it came from supermen in the clouds or goddesses under the sea. We watched the light leave the eyes of the dying and knew somehow that there was no more than this. Some of us asked our questions, challenged the gods, challenged the fearful and the rulers who used that fear. Those of us who were brave enough have always paid the price.
We are far better off than the doubters of yesterday and we know it.
