Posted by Hemant Mehta in Quick update on the story: Some people on this blog and others were wondering why the congressperson was coming out as a “nontheist” instead of an “atheist”…
According to the Secular Coalition for America’s lobbyist, Lori Lipman Brown:
His staffers say he does not identify as an “atheist”
So we can lay that to rest. It doesn’t give us any clue as to what the congressperson does identify with, but it’s not atheism.
[tags]atheist, atheism, nontheist, Secular Coalition for America, Lori Lipman Brown[/tags]
Ah, a nontheist atheist.
Lori Lipman Brown prefers the term “nontheist” as a kind of general catch-all, I believe.
We’ve had plenty of deists before, including several of our early presidents.
It’s easier to wear a label that’s not mainstream… labels like “christian” or “atheist” or “liberal” etc. all have pre-conceived definitions…
Oops…. i linked the the incorrect site in my previous comment.
He may just not want the stigma of the “atheist” label. It’s pretty much a career killer in the US as far as politics go I think. I dunno how much of a career killer it is here in Canada but I suspect it’s less of one here then there.
A lot of people in the public sphere who don’t want to be associated with outspoken atheists like Dawkins, Dennett, or Harris prefer to be called nontheists. I once participated in a live chat with the author of Creationism Vs. Evolution, and she said she didn’t believe in God but didn’t consider herself an atheist. When I asked her what she considered herself, she replied that she calls herself a nontheist.
I suppose it is a useful term because it doesn’t carry the baggage of the word “atheism”, which has been used as an insult and associated with things like communism, witchcraft, foolishness, and even devil-worship.
However, like women reclaiming the word “bitch” and black people who have tried to reclaim the word “nigga”, I much prefer to use the word atheist, even though it is saddled with a whole lot of negative connotations.
ooh, the scary ‘a’ word. Seriously, if this congrescritter’s a deist or some other silly thing like it, I’m calling shenanigans.
Hey Hemant!
Looks like Godless dollars are out there!
http://off-the-map.org/atheist/2007/03/07/in-god-we-trust-missing-from-some-new-dollar-coins/
WHAT?! I don’t fault ANYONE who keeps his or her unbelief a secret in this highly contentious Christianist culture wars era. I dream, like Dr. King, of a time when atheists will stand for election and be voted up or down like any affiliated Christian or Christianist.
Meanwhile, I insist that a declared agnostic, unbeliever, non-believer, Freethinker, humanist or nullifidian is as valid a declared atheist.
Remember all those Deists and Unitarians who helped to found this great secular, pluralistic nation!
Rev. Art - Evangelical Atheist
I found your blog on Christianity Today’s online site and I found the article that is posted on their web site intriguing.I am glad you are a searcher in life instead of a boring know it all.That includes both atheist and religious believers.Both camps have plenty of that type of personalities.
While I am a believer in God I also possess the ability to think which leads me into trouble with most churches and religious types because I do not know nor pretend to know the answers.I just cannot accept or agree with most of their concepts concerning the nature and essence of God……..leads to contradictions in coherent thought.
Anyway ; Glad to find your web site and I hope to read more of your adventures ………….good luck in your quest.