More Americans than ever declare themselves atheists

It was long been a truth in the world of American politics that an individual whom considers him or herself either an atheist or agnostic will not get elected to public office.

However, recent polls show that despite this alienation of unaffiliated religious individuals, the numbers of proclaimed atheists has increased in the last two decades.
Despite hundreds of years of oppression at the hands of authoritarian regimes and religious institutions, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, atheists have flourished in post-Bush era on both local and national levels.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey, a large study released in March, those who considered themselves “no religion” is the only demographic in the entire U.S. in the last 18 years.

This statistic signals that as of 2009, the United States of America has reached its least religious period of its existence.  This reality has been greeted with praise from atheists and nothing but condemnation from the religious right.

This statistic should not be surprising, especially following on the heels of a combined eight years of evangelical Christian agenda from the Bush Administration which has done little but make our families more fractured, our lives more dangerous and our international moral credibility disappear. 

While President Obama is no exception to presidential tendencies (i.e. the invocation of God whenever expedient), it is important to note his inclusion of atheists in his inauguration speech, encouraging their participation in the political process in solidarity with their religious countrymen.

However, atheists have less a desire to cooperate with their religious neighbors and more a passion to create a united platform to represent their interests.

In the past year, over ten national organizations who identify as some sort of unaffiliated spiritual organization have combined to form the Secular Coalition for America, chaired by Herb Silverman, a math professor at the College of Charleston, SC and proud to call himself an atheist.

Silverman believes that the information age holds new opportunities for atheists and like-minded individuals to rally together under a common cause: greater representation in state and federal government.

He relates the struggle of atheists to that of the gay rights movement, saying, “It’s not about carrying banners or protesting; the most important thing is coming out of the closet.” 

The Internet, local meetings, greater advertising presence, community service and government lobbies are but a few of the ways that atheists have taken advantage of the technological advances of the time to capitalize on the decline of the religious right.
The most momentum for the atheist movement has come from college campuses across the U.S. 

According to their Web site, the Secular Student Alliance is an “educational nonprofit whose purpose is to educate high school and college students around the country about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and humanistic manifestations.” 

In 2003, the SSA had 43 chapters; as of March, they have over 150.  This is as heartening news to individuals who consider themselves atheists, agnostics, humanists or an otherwise unaffiliated religious group as it is terrifying and threatening to the religious right.

Finally, atheists are no longer taking condemnations of eternal suffering and fiery brimstone sitting down. 

Get up, get out and get active.  Organizations like the SSA don’t simply evolve from bacteria – they have to be created through the hard work and labor of their members. 
If you consider yourself an atheist, agnostic, humanist or deeply spiritual unbeliever to borrow a term from Richard Dawkins, then perhaps its time to stand up and get involved in letting a nation slowly growing disenchanted with Christian theology and senseless dogma know that there are proud atheists out there who love their country and want to represent it faithfully. 

Matt Gainty can be contacted at opinons@keeneequinox.com.