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Lobbying for policy is one vital piece of nonbelievers' broader work
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Legislation is one thing, legitimacy is another. For politically active atheists, there are particular policies we'd like to see changed, eliminated, or enacted, but that's not the end of the story.
Katrina Vanden Heuvel has posted an important piece in the Nation in which she lauds the advances made by American nontheists, the Secular Coalition for America in particular. It covers a lot of material that is now familiar to readers of this and other atheist blogs and columns; our invisibility and status as political pariahs, the new feeling of hope and inclusion upon the repeated shout-outs from President Obama, Coalition meetings with representatives from the White House -- all of it worth retelling, the triumphs worth celebrating.
It occurred to me that for some, on a gut level, it can begin to feel underwhelming as one scans the list of policy issues that the Coalition and other groups focus on; faith-based initiatives, military proselytizing, discriminatory hiring practices, etc. All vitally important to be sure, but somehow less than stirring in the context of a celebratory piece by a major member of the DC opinion class. The language associated with these issues can be cold, filled with legalese and Washington jargon. Yes, we want to see these obviously discriminatory, unconstitutional, and (most importantly) harmful policies changed, but it can sometimes feel that we are mired in minutiae, chipping away at the edges of a grander injustice, making tiny course changes on a ship gone wildly adrift.
But then see this quote from the Coalition's new director, Sean Faircloth:
"I want to be involved in those lobbying issues," Faircloth says. "But also in terms of allowing people the comfort level and the opportunity to say, ‘Yeah, that's what I happen to believe. I happen to agree with Mark Twain. I happen to agree with Clarence Darrow.' And allow those people to feel comfortable joining an organization, whether it's a humanistic association, chapter, whatever the case may be -- saying, ‘I care about these values because I view them as moral values, and they connect to these policies….'"
Later, the piece referred to the fact that 22 Members of Congress admitted privately to the Coalition that they were nontheists, but only one, Pete Stark, would say so publicly, to which Woody Kaplan said:
". . . we see at the very least there are 22 people who think that honestly admitting their worldview would cause them not to get reelected," Kaplan says. "That's an awful commentary on a pluralistic, liberal America."
And this, we are reminded, is the bigger point. Getting our hands dirty in the legislative muck so that absurd and destructive policies melding church and state are abolished is a necessary and too easily overlooked piece of the broader struggle; the struggle for acceptance, for tolerance, for understanding. Americans need to see their atheistic neighbors for who they actually are. The stereotype of atheists as heartless and amoral needs to be obliterated from the culture. The stained glass ceiling preventing the political ascension of nonbelievers needs more than 18 million cracks, it needs to utterly shattered. Our point of view needs to be taken seriously so it can inform opinions beyond those of our own kind.
As we gain legitimacy as a lobby, as we positively affect legislation and administration policy, and as we assert our influence as a voting bloc, we chip away at the false images and misconceptions. For some of us, parts of the broader work are done from cyberspace, in community groups, in books, or in our daily lives, person to person. And for others, like the Secular Coalition, that work is done in the belly of the political beast. For each of us, something different is required to suit our particular arena.
It's good to know we're covering so many fronts, that we're getting better at it, and getting noticed.
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