Atheists in American politics

[Donald Ian Rankin]

With the complaints coming from the right about Democrats opposing John Roberts on grounds of his religion, I thought I'd ask the following questions (I'm from the UK, and my knowledge of the specifics of American politics is not great).

:- Has there ever been a non-Christian Supreme Court Justice?

:- How many Senators and Congressmen are
a) not Christians or Jews?
b) atheists?

Am I right in thinking that, far from Christians being discriminated against in politics, it's virtually impossible for anyone who *isn't* a Christian to get anywhere in them?

[wli]

1. I feel completely unrepresented, and even threatened with persecution

Basically, with the way things are going, I'm getting scared they're going to send me to Guantanamo or shoot me in the street for being an atheist.

[Nomad559]

2. The Celebrity Atheist List

The Celebrity Atheist List
http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Atheist
http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Atheist

Agnostic
http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Agnostic

Ambiguous
http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Ambiguous

:)

[izzie]

3. My thoughts have been that we are a religious country because

No one forced us to be religious. We could pick what we wanted to believe. I can not see why people do not see if they get 'their' belief in power just what it will do. Sort of scary to have to all think the same way but I guess if you are unsure about things it would feed that mind set on this. We all think a like so we must be right? I think it was done many times in history and did not work.To get on the courts I am sure you have to say you are of some religion. Heck even when I was a kid almost every one turned up at some Church on Sunday (or Sat) as one could hardly run a business in town with our that on your record just as the kids in school went to Sunday school. Course you could hardly do the things on Sunday you can do to day. Store were shut,etc. We did have those blue laws. Maybe the GOP should look at the hours stores are open in place of forcing the Bible into our hands.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Chief Justice William Howard Taft was a Unitarian, but I

think he got in under the radar (starting during the presidential election of 1980).

[toddaa]

6. Unitarians are not all atheists

In fact, I'd be surprised if even a substantial minority of them were outright atheists.

[SteppingRazor]

5. Two of the current Supreme Court Justices are Jewish n/t

[usregimechange]

7. Look at this:

According to a recent Gallup poll 95% of Americans are willing to vote for a Black candidate for President, 92% for a Female or Jewish candidate, 59% for a Gay candidate, but only 49% would vote for an atheist candidate.

Steinfels, P. (2001). Organized atheism gets a rough ride. The Hamilton Spectator, WEEKEND LIFE; Pg. L05.