The Hidden (Acceptable) Bigotry

The current presidential election has begun a sort of dialog in America, superficial as it may be, about bigotry. We have looked at racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and religious intolerance. We have seen race baiting from the Clinton campaign, designed to exploit the undercurrents of racism in our country for political advantage. We have seen idiots yell "iron my shirt" at the first woman presidential hopeful. We have been told white people won't vote for a black man. We have been told Latinos won't vote for a black man. We have seen false insinuations of anti-Semitism used for political gain. We have seen a conservative cable network embark on a campaign to vilify African Americans churches by cynically exploiting cultural ignorance. We have seen the first viable black presidential candidate accused of being an affirmative action candidate by the first woman vice presidential candidate. We have seen all kinds of bigotry in this election, and to some extent we have discussed the implications of such bigotry and all of it has been rejected by varying degrees.

Yet we've missed a very important, yet completely hidden bigotry, a bigotry widely accepted in this country.

The following exchange between atheist Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove and Ill. Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) took place Wednesday afternoon in the General Assembly as Sherman testified before the House State Government Administration Committee concerning a $1 million grant intended for a local Baptist church:

Davis: I don’t know what you have against God, but some of us don’t have much against him. We look forward to him and his blessings. And it’s really a tragedy -- it’s tragic -- when a person who is engaged in anything related to God, they want to fight. They want to fight prayer in school.

I don’t see you (Sherman) fighting guns in school. You know?

I’m trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. This is the Land of Lincoln. This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children.… What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous, it’s dangerous--

Sherman: What’s dangerous, ma’am?

Davis: It’s dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! Now you will go to court to fight kids to have the opportunity to be quiet for a minute. But damn if you’ll go to [court] to fight for them to keep guns out of their hands. I am fed up! Get out of that seat!

[Light clapping from the audience, one man yells "amen"]

Sherman: Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, and I’m sure that if this matter does go to court---

Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

Now try to imagine if a state elected official went off on this tirade against a Christian, Jew, Muslim or Hindu. Needless to say they would be branded a bigot and forced out of office in less than 24 hours, and rightfully so. But here is a man arguing for the separation of church and state, and he is lambasted by this elected official for his beliefs. And let's be clear what this insidious scumbag commie believes in. He believes in evolution, which has been scientifically proven and backed up by every single bit of evidence on the subject. He also believes that the Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, a fact backed up by geologists, physicists, and advanced scientific dating techniques. How dare he try to "spew" such "dangerous", excuse me, "extremely dangerous" ideas?! Our children apparently shouldn't even know that such alternatives to creationism even exist! I guess the last thing schools should be are bastions of knowledge that instill in our children the faculties for critical thought! God forbid, literally. Apparently we shouldn't even be teaching evolution in schools, we should be having prayer in schools in its place, because that is apparently a proper reading of the separation of church and state.

The other shocking aspect of this, aside from the fact that Rep. Davis believes that science is abhorrent and it is "extremely dangerous" to believe in anything other than the Earth being created in 6 days, Adam and Eve, talking snakes, giant people, people living to 900+ years, giant floods, walking on water, water turning to wine, people rising from the dead, etc., is that she seems to believe anyone who doesn't believe in God are second class citizens, people who should have no rights, or at least no place in democratic governance. She actually tried to force him to leave the committee hearing because he doesn't share her religious views! She said "Get out of that seat! You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon!" Where do we live? Iran??

"You have no right to be here" Think about that. Imagine again, that this was directed at someone with Jewish beliefs, or Muslim beliefs. Would anyone find that acceptable? Does anyone have any doubt that the ADL and a hundred other groups would be calling for her immediate resignation? But when it is an atheist being targeted, an atheist being attacked for his religious beliefs, an atheist being told he has no right to even voice his opinion in a committee, no one cares, indeed people in the audience clapped in approval of her attacks, one man yelled "amen"! Contrary to what Rep. David appears to believe, this was a country founded on religious freedom, a country founded on religious tolerance. This hostility and intolerance, this deplorable attempt to relegate a person to the status of second class citizen simply for holding differing religious views should shock the conscience of all Americans, regardless of religious faith.

Yes, many of our "founding fathers" had religious faith. Some were Christian, some were deists, but they were also intellectuals who were cognizant of the injustices of theocracy and religious intolerance, thus they purposely created a government based on religious freedom, a clear separation of church and state, and explicitly enshrined this protection twice in the Constitution, in the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Rep. Davis contends that this country, and the state of Illinois was founded on Christian principles, and to favor anything else is to be dangerous, shameful and anti-American. There are those who would fundamentally disagree, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who wrote specifically of this subject:

... that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a natural right ...

And Thomas Jefferson again:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their "legislature" should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

Also, Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, written during the presidency of George Washington, signed by President John Adams and unanimously approved by the Senate in 1797, proclaimed "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." I believe it would be hard to be any clearer than that. George Washington also spoke directly to the sort of religious bigotry shown by Rep. Davis, only in this case it was to assure the first Jewish congregation in the United States of their rights to religious freedom:

All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it were by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

Long story short, there is absolutely no basis for Rep. Davis's belief that our government or society was founded on the Christian faith. Nothing has been more fundamental to the American ethos than freedom, which is precisely what Rep. Davis is attacking with her bigotry. Thomas Jefferson would roll over in his grave if he heard this elected official, in the year 2008, telling someone that they had no right to participate in their government on account of their religious beliefs. Yet again, no one seems to notice, or care.

And the fact that there is only approval for this vitriolic bigotry, whereas any other group being attacked like this, being told they have no right to be involved in governance (imagine it being said to a Muslim, or a black man, or a Native American), would be vigorously defended and Rep. Davis would be considered a monster, is precisely my point. Rep. Davis faces no consequences, she is not labeled a bigot because our society treats atheists like second class citizens, unworthy of respect or civil liberties.

Consider for a moment this poll which asked "If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be a 'X' would you vote for that person?"

• 94% say they would vote for a black candidate
• 92% would vote for a Jew
• 88% say they would vote for a woman
• 87% would vote for a Latino
• 72% would vote for a Mormon
• 55% would vote for a homosexual, and the worst?:
• Only 45% would vote for an atheist, even if that person was their party's candidate

Other polls have shown that atheists are viewed less favorably than both Muslims and Scientologists.

And this isn't from Pat Robertson, or George W. Bush, or even a Republican. This despicable bigotry and contempt for tolerance and civil liberties is coming from a Democrat, and I couldn't be any more ashamed to have her in my party.

For those interested, here is the audio of the exchange, which gives you a better idea of the shocking and unconscionable nature of her attack on this man.

Update: It should also be noted that there has only been one admitted atheist member of Congress in the institutions history, if that gives you any idea of the scope of the prejudice against atheists in this country:

Although the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, the Coalition's research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in the history of the Congress. Recent polls show that Americans without a god-belief are, as a group, more distrusted than any other minority in America. Surveys show that the majority of Americans would not vote for an atheist for president even if he or she were the most qualified for the office.

Update #2: Keith Olbermann, once again the only voice of truth and justice in the MSM, made Rep. Monique Davis the worst person in the world last night, beating out Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly! He called on her to apologize, or resign. Olbermann also pointed out that while running for office, Abraham Lincoln was accused of being an atheist by his opponent. It looks like this story got some traction thanks to the blogosphere and Keith Olbermann, hopefully she'll be forced to apologize or vacate her position (I've also heard that her office has been bombarded with phone calls and emails, keep it up!). Give Olbermann a watch and pass it along:



If you'd like to give Rep. Davis an earful of your own, her contact information is right here (but please be civil, we aren't animals, contrary to what she may believe):

Springfield Office: 241-E Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL 62706 (217) 782-0010 (217) 782-1795 FAX

District Office: 1234 West 95th Street Chicago, IL 60643 (773) 445-9700 (773) 445-5755 FAX

Website: http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?GA=95&MemberID=1148

Email: mdavis2147@aol.com

Contact the Democratic Party

Contact the Illinois State Democratic Party

Here are the fellow members of her committee, in case you'd like to email them, or cc them on your email to Rep. Davis:

jack@jackfranks.org, lisadugan@sbcglobal.net, 70thdist@pritchardstaterep.com, repjohnbradley@mychoice.net, annazettec@aol.com, statereppaul@sbcglobal.net, staterepgordon@sbcglobal.net, repkrause@aol.com, repmyers@macomb.com, poer@housegopmail.state.il.us, statereprramey55@aol.com, jimwatson@localnetco.com