Wednesday, December 12

A frustrated group of Americans? Probably not.

Earlier this year, a secularist group offered $1,000 to the highest-ranking politician in the land who would publicly proclaim no belief in God. This turned out to be Peter Stark, a Democratic congressman from the San Francisco area. He is the only congressman, of 535, who professes no belief in the Almighty. ... Mr Stark suspects that many of his colleagues secretly agree with him. But they dare not do so publicly, even Democrats.

This article speaks to the notion that atheists have little to no representation in U.S. political culture. But the thing is, people with no religion often feel no need for special representation. First, they've no dogma or intrusive cultural practices to defend. Second, as long as they're left to believe (or not believe) what they want, they're happy.