Run for your lives!!!
By Marc “The Godless” Randazza
In honor of Halloween, I’m going to write about something that obviously scares the living daylights out of a lot of Americans –
ATHEISTS! Boo!
Elizabeth Dole is a Sleaze – We Already Knew That
Article VI, section 3 of the Constitution states:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Elizabeth Dole, (R-NC) did not get the memo. She is desperately trying to hold on to her Senate seat. In fact, she is so desperate that she ran an ad that falsely suggested that her opponent, Kay Hagan, does not believe in unicorns, goblins, witches god. In the ad, the narrator claims that there was a “secret Hagan fundraiser” held by the Godless Americans Political Action Committee, a group that stands up for the rights of Atheists and fights to maintain the separation of church and state.
The ad then cuts away to Godless Americans PAC members stating their beliefs that god and Jesus are not real, and that they would support removing “under god” from the Pledge of Allegiance and removing “In God We Trust” from U.S. Currency. (Related: The New Pledge)
“Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took ‘Godless’ money. What did Kay Hagan promise in return?”
Then a Hagan voice impersonator is heard saying “There is no god.”
Hagan,who is actually a devout Christian, has countered with an ad touting her Christian bona-fides.
Hagan responded Thursday with an 30-second spot of her own. Referring to the Ninth Commandment in the Old Testament, Hagan says the campaign is about creating jobs and fixing the economy, “not bearing false witness against fellow Christians.”
“Elizabeth Dole’s attacks on my Christian faith are offensive,” Hagan says in the ad. “She even faked my voice in her TV ad to make you think I don’t believe in God. Well, I believe in God. I taught Sunday School. My faith guides my life, and Sen. Dole knows it.” (source)
She also appears to be gearing up to take legal action against Dole. Hagan filed a defamation complaint against Dole yesterday in Wake County, NC.
The fact that Elizabeth Dole is lying to try and keep her job should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed her career. She is the heir to Jesse Helms’ seat in the Senate (nuff said?). She is one of the least ethical people to ever ooze through the U.S. Capitol. In more sensible times, she would have been hurled from the Tarpian Rock and left to rot.
But, should the debate really be about whether she is lying about Hagan’s faith?
The Real Issue
I sympathize with Hagan. I really do. I would be very upset if someone mischaracterized my beliefs. As an Atheist, I would go through the roof if someone falsely claimed that I believed in flesh eating zombies, hobbits, gremlins god. When falsely claiming that someone is an Atheist can be the basis for a defamation complaint, what does that say about patriotic Atheists?
I’m ripping off Colin Powell here: The really right answer is, what if she is? Is there something wrong with being an Atheist in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Atheist-American kid believing that he or she could be senator, or president, or a true American?
Hell no.
It is a cruel defamation to assign a faith to one who holds another. However, are the voters in North Carolina so backward, so un-American, that a claim of Atheism could cost Hagan the election? Unfortunately, the answer is a likely “yes.” Most of this nation is still shackled to superstition and tales of magic, and would rather listen to their fraud of a clergyman than think for themselves. North Carloina while not worse than all, is worse than most in this regard.
I find Dole’s actions unforgivable. A true American’s first faith should be the Constitution. After that, you may be an Atheist, a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or a devotee of the Church of the Sub-Genius, but when you reverse the order, you do not believe in America. When a citizen puts faith before country, that citizen is a mere citizen-groupie. When an elected official puts faith before country, that elected official has committed an impeachable offense. And when a candidate for office attempts to make the election about faith, that candidate’s supporters have a patriotic duty to abandon that candidate.
I have examined all the known superstitions of the Word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world …
The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind … to filch wealth and power to themselves. [They], in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ. –Thomas Jefferson
You can view Dole’s “Godless” ad on her website here.
Below are a couple of media reactions to it. If you are just as disgusted as I am, I would like to encourage you to join the Freedom From Religion Foundation or donate to the Godless Americans PAC.
By Email
By RSS Feed
The Legal Satyricon 
Thanks for this post! What also makes me angry is when people believe that in order to be a good person you have to believe in god. I don’t think god and being good have anything to do with each other. Plenty of horrible acts have been committed in the name of god and there are plenty of good people out there who don’t believe in god.
Word!
Right on!!!
I agree completely that what Elizabeth Dole did in running that ad is beyond wrong. I also agree that an atheist has the right to believe/or not believe in what s/he so chooses, and they shouldn’t be questioned or put down for expressing their beliefs. I disagree, however that it follows that someone [who is not an elected official] that puts their faith before their country is a “groupie”. I was actually quite disappointed to see that you felt that way.
I always did like Colin Powell.
Lauren,
Sorry if it disappoints you. But, I don’t believe that you can have more than one “first loyalty.”
Citizens should have a right to put their faith before their country, but then really their country is number two. I would fight to the death to give them that right. They may get my blood spilled on their behalf, but they’ll never have my respect.
There was a time when Catholics were considered unfit to hold higher office because their loyalty might lie with the Holy See – and if the Pope ordered them to act in a way that was counter to their obligations as Americans, they would listen to the Pope. That line of thinking did not dissolve because the logic failed. That line of thinking dissolved because the facts did not support it — the vast majority of Catholics would put their country above what their Cardinal or Pope may demand.
I have no loyalty higher than my commitment to the Constitution. I wouldn’t set that aside for any higher loyalty, not even for my family. As much as I think that mankind would walk into the sunshine of peace and harmony if only we could outlaw religion altogether, I would lay down my life to protect a stranger’s right to have whatever superstition they like. (Unless we amended the Constitution to remove the freedom of religion clause, of course). There are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus alike who would do the same to protect my right to be an Atheist. These are true citizens. The rest are mere groupies. They live here. They free ride on the benefits that America has to offer, but they do not truly know what it means, nor are they truly reliable.
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Marc J. Randazza believes in God!
*sues you* :)
*calls Keker & Van Nest*
No fair, shouldn’t they represent ME?
I want some “godless money”!
It’s a little off to say we’d have peace and harmony without religion. People would still be bigoted, idiots without religion. They’d find something else to hate each other for. Like race, class, sexual orientation… the list goes on. With religion, as with anything, extremism isn’t good.
I can see the good that comes with a sense of community that I’ve seen a lot of people get from their faith. I believe the lack of communal spirit has hurt society as a whole. I’m not saying that we need to do away with personal freedoms, but a certain amount of concern for one’s neighbors shouldn’t be the cost.
I’ve no doubt you’re more than capable of tearing my poor little argument to piece, but the religions side of this debate seemed a bit underrepresented. After all, if the world were cut and dry, black and white, we wouldn’t need lawyers.
I may be capable of “tearing your argument to to pieces” as you say… but, I have no desire to do so. (And I’m not sure that I agree that I am capable)
I actually think you make a wonderful point. Thank you for including it in the discussion. Religion can be wielded as a pair of warm hugging arms or as a slapping palm. I think that my narrow view is that it always winds up as the latter.
I also agree with this statement you made “I believe the lack of communal spirit has hurt society as a whole.” I agree wholeheartedly… and I think that I was trying to make the same point (but I think you did so more elegantly than I). If that communal spirit was that we are all Americans, and there is no kind of American that is lesser than any other, then Atheist, Muslims, Jews, Blacks, etc. is what we are *AFTER* we are Americans, then we have a better community. However, when our first loyalty is to our religion (or our Atheism), then we lose something… we break into tribes and factions with irreconcilable differences.
Just a quick clarification: There was no “Hagan voice impersonator.” That was the voice of Ellen Johnson, the executive director of Godless Americans PAC. Dole had run a few ads prior that focused more on Johnson and her organization than it did on Hagan.
It was especially devious of the Dole campaign, though, to throw that soundbite over an image of Hagan. It was obviously an intent to deceive viewers.
Living in Dole’s hometown of Salisbury, NC, I know people who would change their decision based on an ad claiming hagan to be godless. Especially when the local paper’s opinion column is taking up twice the area it normally does due to people writing in about how it is ‘not to late to put faith back into government’ and how one candidate or other ‘does not follow’ some passage from the Bible. Very, very sad that there was nearly no resistance to the very recent addition of ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ onto the top of the county courthouse. Rural NC can is quite content with those of its own religion and quite intolerant of those who do not follow it.
I agree that religion should come second to the constitution. Unfortunately, in practice I think the problem lies in that the constitution, like any law or statute, can be interpreted in different ways. So even if you put country before religion, one’s religion, or lack thereof, can sway one’s interpretation. Thus giving the appearance of putting religion before country.
My problem often is that I can see the wisdom of both sides of an issue. It’s in the execution that things get FUBAR. However, unlike most people I know, I don’t immediately look for someone(s) to blame. Even I am partly responsible for the current state of affairs because I could do more than I do.