Oct. 8, 2008
The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) is collecting stories from secular values voters around the country. I have reprinted their call for your personal stories below.
If you are politically active and are working to get out the secular vote, especially if you are living in a swing state, please take the time to reply to the SCA. This information may be of interest to reporters covering the election, so it is particularly useful if you indicate that you are willing to talk to the press about your activities.
While the candidates are eagerly reaching out to minority groups in the swing states, they do not appear to be courting non-religious voters. Yet polling shows that there are more atheists and agnostics in the United States than there are Jews, Presbyterians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Roman Orthodox and Greek Orthodox combined.
There are even greater numbers of American voters who report to have "no religion."
In the swing states, the number of people who report to have "no religion" is significant. Here are some statistics regarding the percentage of people with "no religion" living in the swing states, according to the American Religious Identification Survey, which was conducted in 2001 by the CUNY Graduate Center:
Colorado: 21 percent
Nevada: 20 percent
New Hampshire: 17 percent
Virginia: 12 percent
Indiana: 16 percent
Ohio: 15 percent
Missouri: 15 percent
Florida: 12 percent
Pennsylvania: 12 percent
North Carolina: 10 percent
In spite of these numbers, the candidates have yet to reach out in a significant way to this particular section of the population.
Here are two examples of what the leading presidential candidates have said regarding the nonreligious in America:
On a Sept. 12 interview on ABC's The View, Sen. John McCain said that Americans are "entitled not to believe in God" and that he "respects those people who do not believe they need spiritual help."
In his speeches regarding faith, such as his 2006 "Call to Renewal" address, Sen. Barack Obama spoke of "…people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all."
These comments are promising, but they are few and far between and really don't seem to address a significant portion of the American voting population: the population with "no religion." You can help to amplify the voice of nonreligious and nontheistic voters by responding to the Secular Coalition's call for political activism stories.
All political affiliations are welcome to respond. The SCA is a nonpartisan organization.
Do you have a Secular Values Voter story?
The Secular Coalition for America wants to hear what you are doing to organize and get out the secular vote in your state. Contact us NOW with your story. We are looking for both individual and group activities that are promoting the visibility and issues of our constituency for possible media coverage.
We are most interested in the swing states, which include Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Nevada, and Missouri. However, if you have a great story from a "red" or "blue" state we would like to hear from you too.
By sharing these stories with us, you can help the Secular Coalition for America show politicians and the media that they cannot afford to ignore the votes and values of atheists, humanists, agnostics, Brights, freethinkers and other secular Americans.
Please send the following information to: voter@secular.org
Name
Phone
State
Group name (if your group is working to get out the secular vote)
Include one paragraph about what you are doing to organize and get out the secular values vote. Please indicate how you prefer to describe your worldview (i.e. atheist, humanist, freethinker, secular, agnostic, bright, etc.)
Thanks!
The Secular Coalition for America
Note: The Secular Coalition for America is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization and does not endorse any candidates. "Secular Values Voter" Resources for the 2008 Presidential Election can be found at http://election08.secular.org/, which include: news and polls, tips for becoming politically active, and videos of our constituents asking their questions of the candidates.
