Democrats and the Atheist Vote. What?

[usregimechange]

I believe the paragraph below shows some influence secular activists are having on the direction of the Democratic party (although admittedly small). Many religious activists support the seperation of church and state but for us nonreligious voters the issue of church and state seperation is a hot button issue. My question to DU is this: How important is the atheist vote?

"Not only were most of the Democrats raised to practice a quiet faith, they also are seeking the nomination of an eclectic party that includes Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, a high percentage of Jews, and a large number of atheists and agnostics. During campaign appearances this year, the party's activists frequently expressed strong feelings about the mixing of church and state, which makes some candidates wary of talking too much about their religious views." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16613-2003Nov26_2.html

[kiahzero]

1. In terms of numbers,

not very. Sorry, but there aren't many atheists out there. That's not to say that atheists should be ignored, but in terms of courting votes, atheists aren't exactly a lucrative area.

I'd also point out that separation of church and state is also very important for those of us who are very religious, just not of the Abrahamic variety.

[usregimechange]

3. First

Nonreligious people are around 25 million Americans. Second, I agree the seperation of church and state is very important for ALL Americans.

[kiahzero]

4. A question of semantics

Non-religious != atheist... Non-religious, by itself, would lend itself to apathetic agnosticism (Don't know, don't care).

[usregimechange]

5. eh, what?

[kiahzero]

6. Sorry

CS lingo... non-religious does not inherantly connotate atheist. In my mind, "non-religious" refers to the large segment of the population that has never really considered serious religious questions in a thoughtful manner (ie, apathetic agnostics).

[usregimechange]

7. ok

Yes "nonreligious" and "atheist" may not be the same. However, if your working definition of "atheist" is the mere steotype Americans generally have, it may seem even more so. Atheists comprise a widely diverse group of people. Personally, I have known many agnostics who have thought about religious truth claims a lot. I would say there is an equally large, well even more so, segment of the society who believe in God who have "never really considered serious religious questions in a thoughtful manner."

[usregimechange]

8. ,,,

From ancient times, people have at times used atheism as a term of abuse for religious positions they opposed. The first Christians were called atheists because they denied the existence of the Roman deities. "Atheism," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. I've debated atheists on the open net before

Or I should say, I've followed the debates they've had with religious pinheads, and I've found atheists to be very educated, sharp and intelligent debaters. They also have a valuable arsenal of information regarding the backgrounds of our forefathers that really explains the reasons behind the separation of church and state clause in our constitution. Atheists are our Fahrenheit 457's. Even if they're a minority, they are a very powerful resource for the Democratic party.

I, btw, am a lone-wolf Christian.

[Demobrat]

2. As an agnostic leaning towards atheist

I prefer that religion not be brought into politics at all. When it is I take it as an attempt to manipulate me and resent it greatly. His posturing as a Christian is one the many things I despise about Bush and I would have a real problem voting for a Dem who brought religion into his or her campaign. Thanks goodness so far only Clark has, and only in passing.

[ringmastery]

9. I guess you could call me an apathetic agnostic

Organized Religion is simply not a part of my life. I rarely think about god. If I do believe in something, it's this abstract thing to me called "mother nature" or the "universe" which is impossible to describe cause I'm not exactly sure what it is. But when I'm outside and I see a beautiful sunset or other things in nature, I do sometimes think that there had to be something that created us. What was there before the big bang? How did we get here? Stuff like that.

I've always thought of organized religion as doing more harm than good. People fighting over whose god is the true god and killing each other digusts me.

I see organized religion as a crutch for a lot of people unable or incapable to deal with issues on their own. I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with having that support network, unless you use it to infringe on others rights like the repukes do.

[Blue Gardener]

11. Very Well Said

Having Thanksgiving with the Baptist part of the family tree today. I'll keep your thoughts in mind when they have their prayer. Thanks.

[dand]

12. Thanks ringmastery

Eloquently written:toast:

[Zynx]

13. The most important block is the Catholic vote.

Its not just because I'm a Catholic, but it is because they make up atleast a quarter of the Democratic party all by themselves.

[Hamlette]

14. How many "non believers" are there?

in the national poll done in 2001 (they do it every 10 years) the number of people who say they don't believe in God (I'm not sure how the question was phrased but it included atheists, agnostics, non believers etc.) went up in the US but it was still small (10-15% or so if memory serves).

Then they asked if the person being polled lived in the same household as someone who was non-religious and the number was 19%. The pollsters believe that the person being polled didn't want to admit they were godless but could say someone in their household was and the number of non-believers is closer to 19%, maybe higher.

We're more numerous than you think. ;)

Don't throw us out with the bathwater. I turned off the last debate when Clark did his religious thing. I've been a big Clark supporter for over a year (yes, part of the draft Clark movement) but I'm looking more closely at Dean again after that.