How congress doesn’t yet adequately represent the U.S.

The Pew Forum report, “Faith on the Hill: The Religious Affiliations of Members of Congress,” shows that, while 16.1% of Americans say that they are religiously unaffiliated, there is not one single member of Congress who will publicly identify as a non-believer. Christians, Mormons and Jews are statistically over-represented, unaffiliated people (agnostics and atheists) are strangely absent.

In the report, 51.3% of Americans say they are Protestant, but there are 54.7% (292) Protestants in the Congress. 23.9% of Americans say they are Catholic, but 30.1% (161) of Congress identifies as Catholic. Mormons, too, are over-represented, with 1.2% vs. 2.6%; and Jewish are the most over-represented, with 1.7% of Americans vs. a whopping 8.4% (45) in Congress. And then there are the unaffiliated, at 16.1%, vs. oh, what’s this? 0% (0) unaffiliated in Congress? And there are 5 congresscritters who either don’t know, aren’t sure, or refused to say.

We shouldn’t be surprised that atheist politicians are reluctant to come out of the closet. A 2006 University of Minnesota study revealed that 40% of respondents characterized atheists as a group that “does not at all agree with my vision of American society.” We’re the last group that it’s socially acceptable to hate.

Worse, in several states, atheists are barred from running for public office. We still do not have the same rights as other tax paying, law-abiding, voting citizens.

Some state constitutions in the U.S. actually require a religious test as a qualification for holding public office or being a witness, even though a unanimous Supreme Court in 1961 decision (Torcaso v. Watkins) held that the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution override state requirements.

Arkansas: “Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness. No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court.”

South Carolina: “Person denying existence of Supreme Being not to hold office. No person who denies the existence of the Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution.”

Tennessee: “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.”

Texas: The Bill of Rights last amended on September 13, 2003 states that an official may be “excluded from holding office” if she/he does not “acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.”

Maryland: “That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty… provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come.”

“That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God…”

Mississippi: “No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state.”

Some state’s constitutions do not have an explicit religious test for public office or being a witness, but contain language that discriminates against atheists.

Pennsylvania: “No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.” This debatably constitutes a provision that denies atheists the right to hold public office and/or testify in a court of law.

Let’s fix this. We need people from those states who are atheists to run for office as atheists. Let’s make sure we ARE adequately represented in government.