[h=1]In A Congress Full Of Firsts, Still No Open Atheists[/h]
The 116th Congress is the most diverse in history, with incoming members expanding political representation on a number of fronts. For the first time, Congress now includes Muslim women, Native American women, an openly bisexual senator and the youngest woman ever elected to serve in either chamber.
Yet despite that progress, Congress is once again beginning a new session without a single member who openly identifies as atheist, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest CQ Roll Call “Faith on the Hill” survey.
The questionnaire identified only one representative ― Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) ― who says she is religiously unaffiliated. Sinema, who has taken issue with the “atheist” label in the past, has been the only openly unaffiliated member of Congress since she was elected to the U.S. House in 2012. (She’s also the first openly bisexual member of the U.S. Senate).
The survey underscores a longstanding lack of political representation among the growing ranks of Americans who say they don’t believe in God, are questioning the existence of a higher power, or simply don’t subscribe to traditional organized religion. This gap in representation has persisted as atheists, nontheists, agnostics and other so-called religious “nones” continue to battle for public acceptance following decades of social and political prejudice toward their views.
The absence of openly atheist representation in the highest ranks of government presents a problem for the religiously unaffiliated, said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), a nonprofit that promotes the philosophy that people can be good without a god.
“It’s critically important to see ourselves reflected in those who represent us,” said Speckhardt. “When that isn’t the case, it’s very much like a billboard for minorities who are underrepresented, whoever they are.”
hno:
- what's next? crying that nobody from NAMBLA is in Congress to represent the pedophiles?
The 116th Congress is the most diverse in history, with incoming members expanding political representation on a number of fronts. For the first time, Congress now includes Muslim women, Native American women, an openly bisexual senator and the youngest woman ever elected to serve in either chamber.
Yet despite that progress, Congress is once again beginning a new session without a single member who openly identifies as atheist, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest CQ Roll Call “Faith on the Hill” survey.
The questionnaire identified only one representative ― Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) ― who says she is religiously unaffiliated. Sinema, who has taken issue with the “atheist” label in the past, has been the only openly unaffiliated member of Congress since she was elected to the U.S. House in 2012. (She’s also the first openly bisexual member of the U.S. Senate).
The survey underscores a longstanding lack of political representation among the growing ranks of Americans who say they don’t believe in God, are questioning the existence of a higher power, or simply don’t subscribe to traditional organized religion. This gap in representation has persisted as atheists, nontheists, agnostics and other so-called religious “nones” continue to battle for public acceptance following decades of social and political prejudice toward their views.
The absence of openly atheist representation in the highest ranks of government presents a problem for the religiously unaffiliated, said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), a nonprofit that promotes the philosophy that people can be good without a god.
“It’s critically important to see ourselves reflected in those who represent us,” said Speckhardt. “When that isn’t the case, it’s very much like a billboard for minorities who are underrepresented, whoever they are.”
hno:
- what's next? crying that nobody from NAMBLA is in Congress to represent the pedophiles?