DNC embraces ‘religiously unaffiliated,’ not believers

FPI / September 2, 2019

The Democratic Party on Aug. 24 officially became the party of atheists, agnostics, and humanists.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) unanimously passed a resolution which proclaimed that 70 percent of “religiously unaffiliated” Americans share the values of the Democratic Party.

The Secular Coalition of America, which lobbies on behalf of atheists, lauded the DNC’s resolution, saying it was the first time a major party “embraced American nonbelievers.”

In passing the resolution on Aug. 24, Democrats referred to Americans of fatih as “those most loudly claiming that morals, values, and patriotism must be defined by their religious views.” Further, the DNC said religious Americans have “used those religious views with misplaced claims of ‘religious liberty,’ to justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, including but not limited to the LGBT community, women” and others.

Ron Millar, coordinator of the Freethought Equality Fund PAC, which promotes the election of humanists and atheists at all levels of government, said: “We have seen record numbers of nonreligious candidates running for office. Hopefully, the DNC’s recognition of nonreligious voters will lead to more representation in elected offices, so that America’s lawmaking bodies more accurately reflect the growing number of nonbelievers in our great country.”

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, referred to the DNC’s resolution as a “political landmark” that is “long overdue.”

The DNC concluded that since “nonreligious Americans made up 17 percent of the electorate in 2018,” they also “have the potential to deliver millions more votes for Democrats in 2020 with targeted outreach to further increase turnout of nonreligious voters.”

Michael Wear, who served as a faith adviser to former President Barack Obama, called the DNC’s resolution “stupid on a fundamental level that transcends electoral politics.”

Wear, the author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America, had earlier told Fox News that Democrats had an opportunity to pull religious Americans into their tent because “President Trump has lowered the bar to reach conservative religious voters to an extent that we haven’t seen in this century.”

Wear tweeted in reaction to the DNC resolution: “Trump is absolutely going to run this into the ground, and not just with white evangelicals.”

Free Press International