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Wednesday, June 11th, 2003

Glad tidings for secularists

WASHINGTON — Pollsters who pry into matters of faith know they have to

phrase their questions carefully.

One big question goes something like this: “What is your religion?” As

a rule, few dare to answer “none.” But researchers at the City

University of New York made a subtle change in 2001 when updating their

portrait of U.S. religious identities. They asked: “What religion do

you identify with, if any?”

A stunning 14 percent said, “no religion” — nearly 30 million

Americans. Another question asked if respondents were religious or

secular and 16 percent chose “secular.”

“Those two words — ‘if any’ — made a big difference,” said Fred

Edwords, editorial director of the American Humanist Association.

“Those two little words signaled that it was acceptable for people to

say that they didn’t believe in God or at least didn’t practice any

particular religion.”

Other recent surveys have brought secularists similar glad tidings.

According to the National Election Studies, the percentage of Americans

who say they attend weekly religious services fell from 38 to 25

percent between 1972 and 2000. Meanwhile, those that never attend

services rose from 11 to 33 percent.

Ordinarily these kinds of numbers would inspire chatter in Washington.

A rising number of openly secular voters would have a major political

impact — especially for Democrats.

“We are in touch with lots of people who are certainly to the left of

theism and it’s no surprise they are on the political left and, thus,

Democrats,” said Tony Hileman, executive director of the American

Humanist Association. “Also, it’s no surprise that all the religious

extremists — the names John Ashcroft and George W. Bush come to mind

— are on the political right and, thus, they are Republicans.

“This is one of the biggest divisions in American life today and we

shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it.”

This chasm is often seen in the fine details of daily politics.

In the 2000 White House race, Voter News Service found that 14 percent

of the voters said they attended religious services more than once a

week and 14 percent said they never attended. The former backed Bush by

a 27-percent margin and the latter Al Gore by a 29-percent margin.

Some of President Bill Clinton’s advisors spotted a similar trend in

1996, while seeking to learn which poll questions would most accurately

predict a voter’s choice. These five worked best: Is homosexuality

morally wrong? Do you every look at pornography? Would you look down on

a married person who had an affair? Is sex before marriage morally

wrong? Is religion very important in your life?

If voters chose “liberal” answers on three out of five, reported

Atlantic Monthly, the odds where 2-1 they would pick Clinton. The odds

soared if they leaned left on four out of five. Those giving

“conservative” answers went Republican, by precisely the same odds.

Public debate on “lifestyle” issues of this kind is a relatively new

phenomenon, noted Edwords. There was a time when Baptists, Pentecostals

and other conservative Protestants tended to shun political activism

altogether, in part because they believed “politics was too sinful.”

Then American culture began to radically change in the 1960s and ’70s

and issues of faith and morality heated up on both sides of the

political aisle. Today, leaders of the American Humanist Association

and other openly secular groups believe the headquarters of the

Religious Right is not in Virginia Beach or in Lynchburg — it’s in the

White House.

This has created a stronger coalition of humanists, secularists and

liberal Christians and Jews that is united in opposition to what it

believes is a dangerous blend of fundamentalism and government. This

represents both opportunity, and risk, for the political left.

“The Republican Party wants to be the party of God,” said Edwords. “But

it’s just as clear that Democrats don’t want to stand up and say they

are the godless party. They have to keep using religious language, even

though that may make some of us secularists uncomfortable. What

Democrats have to say is that their religion is broader and more

inclusive and more tolerant. …

“We know they have to do that. It just doesn’t pay to do politics while

wearing atheism on your sleeve.”

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