Why is it that among voters, we never hear about the secular vote? By that I’m specifically referring to Atheists, maybe Agnostics as well, but mostly the Atheist vote. As most of us know, there’s more than 10 million people in the U.S. that identify as Atheist. Out of those, probably half – or more – are voting age. Think about adding those raw vote totals to the total in any election. In some states, there are more atheists than in others, but the fact is that atheists exist in society, everywhere, and many are politically active should mean that candidates for office should seek out that vote.
Of course, just by recognizing that atheists exist could be a problem for a candidate. The U.S. is still majority Christian (at least identifies as such) and therefore it may not be expedient for any candidate, of any party to embrace non-believers. What would that look like? It would probably mean a candidate that stood for church/state separation and possibly had a record of that support before whatever current office they were running for. In many parts of the country (not just the South), that may mean losing some of the evangelical vote. Then again, maybe not. Why? Once the wall is down, that means the influence may go both ways. Just look at how in some places, police have been preventing church services (in a car) during the current emergency. That’s clearly government interference in free expression. As an Atheist, I’m against religious influence in government but also in government interference in religion.
Just stating something like that may actually convince some non-believers to vote for that person, no matter the party. Right now, most Atheists either vote or lean toward one major party over the other. Why is that? Social issues. Take those out of the equation though and in most cases people in either party are mostly concerned about the same issues: Economy, jobs, education, yes even health care. Aren’t those the issues that even secular voters probably care most about? So candidates that focus there instead of pushing social issues that are meant to be divisive could attract a crucial number of votes from the same secular voters. No one can take for granted right now that any candidate is going to do anything more than pay lip service to their particular social issue(s). They’ve been fooling you for a long time if you’ve believed otherwise.
Isn’t it more important to have leaders that will actually follow the law?
Conservative Skeptic 
Despite the shocking decline of religion in America, at this stage the only thing we know for sure about the next president is that they will not be an atheist. 49% of Americans say they would not vote for an atheist candidate, which makes an atheist president about as likely as a Protestant pope. It also makes the United States a country where politicians are afraid not to believe in God – or to pretend they do. Wouldn’t it be nice if, just for once, both parties could find a credible candidate who isn’t walking around with Jesus on their shoulder like a goddamned parrot? Although the Constitution makes a point of keeping religion and politics separate, in practice, it’s impossible to be a successful politician without sucking up to religion. You know, that thing that’s in such decline. As if to underline this, in another poll few weeks ago before COVID, we heard that 30% of Americans believe the Bible is the literal word of God. That’s like hearing that 30% of fifteen year-olds believe in Santa Claus. Well, it is to me, anyway. A further 43% believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, and only 17% think it’s just a book of fables and legends. So 83% of adult Americans believe the Bible is either directly or indirectly the word of God, which makes you wonder how many of them have actually read it. If the Bible is the word of God it’s bad news for humanity, because it shows a god who is contradictory, ill-focused, and incoherent. A god who finds it impossible to simply state what he means in plain language. In short, somebody who can’t be trusted. Fortunately, it’s not the word of God, for two very good reasons: One: Because God doesn’t exist. And I can say that with authority. Well, with as much authority as anyone who says he does exist. And two: Because the Bible is self-evidently a collection of different books written at different times in different styles by different people. It’s entirely of human origin. It was written by men, and put together by men. Some books got in, and others didn’t. All the editorial decisions were made by men for the purpose of controlling other men. That purpose has now been served. Everyone involved is long dead and buried, and their ideas have no more jurisdiction over us than our half-baked ideas will over those who will live a thousand years from now. Imagine us trying to dictate to those people from our pit of ignorance how they should engage with reality. And now imagine the withering contempt they would rightly show for that suggestion. Given its history and format, I’d say the Bible has less chance of being the word of God than just about any book you could think of. But then again, surely 83% of Americans can’t be wrong. Oh, I don’t know. More than 83% of Americans vote Republican or Democrat, and they’ve yet to pick a winner between them, so I don’t know what to think any more. Might as well look on the bright side, and the good news is, of course, that only 49% of Americans wouldn’t vote for an atheist, which means that a clear majority would. What a breakthrough. At this rate it might only be a couple of hundred years before you don’t need to pander to superstition and juju to become electable in the world’s most powerful country. This could be the beginning of a whole new enlightenment. Oh happy day. Peace.
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I will always reason that Barry Obama is and has always been, an atheist. Hillary Clinton, too. You can fool most of The People most of the time….if you are a Democrat Liberal.
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