American Atheists President: Conservatives 'Pretend
Christianity Still Holds Water' in USA
by Dr. Susan Berry 1 Mar 2014
In an interview with Salon, the president of American
Atheists reviewed the decision of the American Conservative Union (ACU) to
rescind his organization’s invitation to CPAC. David Silverman charges that the
ACU is both “pretending” that “atheists aren’t relevant” and that “Christianity
still holds water in American society.”
When asked about his reported
“pledge” to “attack the very idea that Christianity is an important element of
conservatism,” Silverman responded that while “I did say that I was going to
attack the idea that Christianity and conservatism were inseparable,” he was
not waging “an attack on people of faith.”
“I wanted to raise the awareness
that there were atheists in the ranks, and I wanted to raise the awareness that
those atheists – at least some of them – think that Christianity can easily and
should easily be divorced from conservatism,” Silverman told Josh Eidelson of Slate.
Practically in the same breath
that Silverman said Christianity no longer “holds water in America,” he
also stated, “There is nothing in my tone that sounded aggressive toward a person,
or trashed Christianity in any way.”
Eidelson reminded Silverman that
American Atheists’ public relations director recently wrote:
Setting aside the fact that
religions are dangerous and false, separation of religion and government is
absolutely necessary because if any religion co-opts legislature, it means that
no other religion is free to practice as that legislature pertains to their
beliefs. The range of applications is nearly unlimited: Marriage equality,
right-to-die, abortion, birth control, sex ed, science education, science
funding, religious school funding, liquor sales, business hours, employment
discrimination, the list goes on and on and on.
“If your group has different
politics on these issues than CPAC – and most of the people at CPAC – why
should they have you at their conference?” Eidelson asked.
“The reason I wanted to go is to
raise the awareness that CPAC is throwing away conservatives. CPAC is shoving
conservatives off to the side,” Silverman replied. “Conservatism is declining,
obviously… And the reason that they are suffering is because they are doing the
wrong thing, by taking the fastest growing… religious demographic in the
country… and shoving it off to the side for the sake of Jesus.”
Ironically, Silverman conceptualizes
atheism itself as a “religion” at the same time he also wants Christians, at
least, to cast to the side those ideas and people Christian conservatives hold
in reverence. Somehow, Silverman comes across as sounding intolerant.
Taking exception to the approach
of American Atheists at Ricochet Wednesday, agnostic Andrew Stuttaford referred
to a piece he wrote last year at Politix, titled “Yes, Conservatives Can Be
Godless Too”:
Godless conservatives however are
rarely anti-religious... They often appreciate religion as a force for social
cohesion and as a link to a nation's past. They may push back hard against
religious extremism, but unlike today's "new atheists" they are most
unlikely to be found railing against "sky fairies." Mankind has
evolved in a way that makes it strongly disposed towards religious belief, and
conservatism is based on recognizing human nature for what it is.
That means facing the fact that
gods will, one way or another, always be with us.
Stuttaford acknowledges that religion
has been an important part of society. In American society, conservatives hold
as essential the Judeo-Christian principles upon which the framers built a
nation that would value freedom of religion at the same time that its
government would not adopt an established state religion.
Patrick Reilly, president of the
Cardinal Newman Society which promotes and defends faithful Catholic education,
told Breitbart News, “For those who use the terms ‘conservative’ or ‘the right’
for political purposes, it’s sensible to think of a ‘big tent’ coalition that
includes fiscally responsible citizens who deny God.”
“But true conservatism – which is
rooted in Western civilization and drinks from the wellspring of Christendom –
can’t possibly be disentangled from Judeo-Christian beliefs without becoming a
hollow social movement that eventually withers away,” Reilly added. “There’s
ultimately a disconnect between those who live for ‘conservative politics,’ and
those conservatives who engage in politics only to preserve the freedom to live
rightly.”
Interestingly, Silverman’s
problems with non-atheist religion seem focused primarily on Christianity. He
makes no mention of “conservative” Jews, of whom Mark Levin--a constitutional
scholar, enthusiastic Tea Party supporter, and highly popular conservative talk
show host--is one of the most popular.
Joel Pollak, Breitbart News’ own
senior editor, confirmed, “Not only are there many conservative Jews, but there
is a really strong Jewish presence at CPAC.”
“I believe conservatism can exist
outside of any particular religious tradition, or even religion itself,” Pollak
commented. “It is based on the dignity of the individual." He continued:
However, historically, we must
acknowledge that American conservatism, in the sense of respect for the
individual, could not have emerged without the specific founding context of a
dissident Christianity that encouraged believers to read the Bible for
themselves and was hostile to existing hierarchies and authorities.
Pollak also noted the connection
between the Christian and Jewish traditions and their joint influence on
American government and culture.
“That unique Christian tradition,
in turn, drew heavily on Jewish ideas and symbols for inspiration,” Pollak
stated. “Later, American institutions were also shaped by taking the best
lessons from classical, pagan civilizations that had experimented with
different forms of government millennia ago.”
“But the spark of American
individualism is a Puritan one, whose utopia was the Jewish idea of a republic
of virtue,” Pollak concluded. “And so the Judeo-Christian tradition is
fundamental to conservatism, even if it is big and broad enough to accommodate
every other religious tradition, including atheism.”
Silverman complained that in
rescinding its invitation to CPAC, the ACU is implying “atheists aren’t
relevant.” But isn’t that what Silverman and his organization are emphatically
saying about Christianity? Silverman's statement that conservatives are merely
pretending “Christianity still holds water in American society” is, in many
ways, an attack on why America
even exists.
Silverman accused the ACU of
“shoving” atheist “conservatives off to the side,” when he himself, and his
organization, belittle the significance of the primary philosophical
underpinnings of American government and society. There appears to be no “big
tent” around his organization.
Salon
Salon
is a publication for the Salon Media
Group Inc.
Note: Robert McKay was
a director at the Salon Media Group Inc.,
a contributor for the American Bridge
21st Century, and is the chairman for the Democracy Alliance.
George
Soros was a contributor for the American
Bridge 21st Century, a member of the Democracy
Alliance, the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the New America Foundation, the Sundance
Institute, the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the Aspen Institute (think
tank), ProPublica, and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.
Cliff
Sloan is a director at the American
Constitution Society, and was a publisher for Slate.
Atul A. Gawande
was a medical columnist for the Slate,
and is a director at the New America
Foundation.
Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman of the New
America Foundation (think
tank), a member of the President's
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, was a funder for the New America
Foundation (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
William R.
Hambrecht was a director at the President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology, is a friend
of Paul Pelosi, and an investor & director for the Salon Media Group Inc.
Paul
Pelosi is a friend of William R.
Hambrecht, and married to the U.S.
House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
John
E. Warnock is the chairman & investor for the Salon Media Group Inc., and a trustee at the Sundance Institute.
Henry Louis
Gates Jr. was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a
director at ProPublica, a director
at the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, an Oak Bluffs (MA)
homeowner, and the editor-in-chief & founder for The Root.
The
Root is a division of the Slate
Group.
Slate
is a division of the Slate Group.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund,
an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
No comments:
Post a Comment