MetaChat - Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif)

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12 March 2007

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif) is the first Congress member in history to acknowledge his nontheism. →[More:]Wow. I never realised this. I knew there was a stigma associated with atheism in the country, but wow. Good on you, Pete Stark! (via)

post by: gaspode at: 10:32 | 16 comments

Wow, I didn't know ANY Congress member had come out of that particular closet. Good for him!

posted by BoringPostcards 12 March | 10:38

He just lost his shot at a Grammy.

posted by Atom Eyes 12 March | 10:45

WHAT??? Off with his head!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 12 March | 10:47

I saw on the Seattle Atheists mailing list that a congressperson was going to come out this week, but it didn't say who it was. I think I'm going to write the guy a letter!

posted by matildaben 12 March | 10:48

I just sent him a nice little email.

posted by box 12 March | 11:09

It begins...

posted by Hellbient 12 March | 11:23

thank god. (hee!)

posted by scody 12 March | 11:24

I, also, sent him a positive email.

posted by matildaben 12 March | 11:42

I sent him a box of Chick tracks and a mason jar full of my urine. But I did that for everyone in the House so it's nothing to do with this announcement.

posted by Lentrohamsanin 12 March | 14:45

Hmmm... If I registered petestarkforpresident.com, I'd be guaranteed some of the smartest traffic on the web... and constant monitoring by the NSA...

posted by wendell 12 March | 17:07

I love that the president of the Secular Coalition for America is "Herb Silverman."

posted by Pips 12 March | 17:33

Good for you, dude.

posted by jason's_planet 12 March | 20:11

I love that the president of the Secular Coalition for America is "Herb Silverman."

HAHA!

Props to the congressman from California.

posted by LoriFLA 12 March | 20:40

Well, the Stark office has clarified that he is actually a Unitarian, which is at least nominally religious. Religion for agnostics, they call it.

"Nontheist" != atheist. I'd call it a little stronger than agnostic, in fact -- something like you agree there's a religious force at work in life, but you're not sure if it's possible to count god(s).

posted by stilicho 12 March | 22:18

Franklin Pierce didn't swear on a Bible when he took the oath of office--he affirmed it instead.