I was pleased and impressed when I learned that Kay, despite her strong devotion to her faith, was willing to attend the fundraiser that included the Godless Americans PAC, and so I contributed $200 even though I don’t live in North Carolina. Just finding any candidate or official who is even willing to listen to the concerns of secular Americans is extremely rare, and needs to be encouraged.

Senator Dole’s vile response is not surprising to me, trying to smear Kay with “godlessness” by association, and Kay’s response is strong, clear and well considered. She should not tolerate such slander.

HOWEVER, I am disappointed by Kay’s failure to make even a single statement about how using “godless” as an unquestioned dirty word is also inappropriate, that she has not made an assertive statement that all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs deserve fair representation and should not be scapegoated. When Kay attended the fundraiser in Boston, I thought and hoped that she was taking a stand to represent all her constituency, including those upstanding Americans who do not believe in any gods.

I understand that in her response to Dole she wants to focus on defending herself against the attack, but by not denouncing the very tactic of using religious bigotry itself, Kay has tacitly agreed that “godless” people are the evil and dangerous degenerates that Dole implies they are. If Kay had also taken that single, simple and fair stance against bigotry, I would be donating more money to her campaign. She did not, so I am not.

I know that she is busy, but please pass these thoughts on to Kay. I wish Kay good luck in the election and I hope she wins.

Sincerely, Richard Wade

We ALL love our country, and we all value the role of faith in American life.

If it wasn’t for that, I’d chalk the whole thing up to political expediency. But Hagan didn’t have to say that. She didn’t have to imply that valuing the role of faith in American life was an essential part of loving your country.

Still, Richard makes a good point when he says that we can’t ask politicians to suddenly start defending us. We have to make our own voices heard, on blogs, in letters to the editor and to candidates, and most of all in everyday life.

But if candidates don’t acknowledge that we can be patriotic, our political situation won’t improve no matter how many election cycles pass.

It’s not up to brave candidates or brave elected officials to improve our image; it’s up to us. Respect is not a gift from on high, respect is earned through hard work courageous struggle.

Politicians are locked in a balancing act of principles and pragmatics. They may privately feel that an unpopular minority deserves a better break, but they have to be elected by the majority. So their support of the minorities will be weak and conditional at best. Don’t look to politicians to be our champions.

If we want a better reputation in society then WE must achieve it, not hope for a rare good word from an elected official. WE must be visible and audible in our virtues. WE must be seen everywhere being charitable, being compassionate, being patriotic, being conscientious, being moral, being courteous, being all the things that bigots say we are not.

No one is going to give us respect as a gift. We must win it by the constant, ubiquitous and undeniable reality of how we behave.

He won fair and square in my opinion.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/hagan-hits-back-on-dole.html

Stop all the defeatism, already.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3855835/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMzX_EAfwyc&feature=related

Campbell Brown tells it.

What annoys me is that not a week ago, Brown talked about the false accusations against Obama’s faith, saying “Why would it matter if Obama was a Muslim or an Arab?” But in this case, she focuses on the fact that Hagan is a Christian, and says nothing about the blatant bigotry in this ad. Why the double standard here?