Been slacking as of late. Spring break and all that jazz. I did read an interesting article that brought me some joy though recently. Check it out, as quoted from the AP:
Rep. Stark applauded for atheist outlook
WASHINGTON - The American Humanist Association applauded Rep. Pete Stark for publicly acknowledging he does not believe in a supreme being. The declaration, it said, makes him the highest-ranking elected official — and first congressman — to proclaim to be an atheist. The organization took out an ad in Tuesday's Washington Post, congratulating the California Democrat for his stance.
ADVERTISEMENT
"With Stark's courageous public announcement of his nontheism, it is our hope that he will become an inspiration for others who have hidden their conclusions for far too long," executive director Roy Speckhardt said in a statement.
Stark's beliefs garnered attention after the Secular Coalition for America offered a $1,000 prize to the person who could identify the "highest level atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other kind of nontheist currently holding elected public office in the United States."
Associate director Ron Millar told the Los Angeles Times that the group wanted to highlight the difficulty that politicians have declaring they don't believe in God.
A member of American Atheists California nominated Stark.
"We didn't think we'd have any member of Congress come forward," Millar said.
Stark, whose district is in the San Francisco Bay-area town of Fremont, confirmed his belief in a statement to The Associated Press late Monday. He said he was "a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being."
"I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social services," he wrote.
Unitarian Universalism describes itself as creedless, allowing members to shape their beliefs based on personal experience rather than an authoritative statement of religious belief. Some members believe in God, but not all do.
Stark has represented Fremont in Congress since 1973 and chairs the health subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.
This is really great because there are probably almost no known politicians, that I can think of at least, that have done something like this. In a society where it is the norm to say "God Bless", or "God Bless America" or "one nation under God" etc, it's very refreshing to see something like this. Remember that thing called separation of church and state? What a wild and crazy idea! When did it become the rule of thumb to bless god after a speech Mr. President? Do you do that so that you can make yourself feel better about the shit storms you start everywhere? I think you do it to quell your fears of feeling guilty. Is that it, or is it that all of your constituents more or less require you to say things like that because that's the "true spirit of America"? It's a farce. Saying things does not necessarily make you a good person; you actually have to be good and do good things. Ah, what's the point, that's too hard. America-fuck yeah!
***
freight of the day (AMEN)
freight of the day (AMEN)
No comments:
Post a Comment