Hello everyone!
I'm a very politically active student in my community, and I plan to run for office sometime in the future to fight for things such as an increased minimum wage, more college affordability and more funding for public transit in my state. One thing that frustrates me to no end is how important a candidate's religious affiliation is to voters -- and namely how the nonreligious are looked upon negatively by the public. As an atheist (though I rarely use that term publicly), I feel constrained by these perceptions and am heartbroken to see such prejudice.
I personally have no problem at all with religion in and of itself. In fact, one of the organizations which I'm a leader for uses faith to build support for progressive initiatives, and I work with many priests, imams, and rabbis on a regular basis. But I do have a big problem with people using faith to justify denying citizens basic rights (abortion, marriage), the treatment of religious minorities as second-class citizens (as is the case with Muslims and atheists in America), and so on.
And, of course, I often clash with relatives and elders over the existence of God. Accused of "disrespect" and such of tradition.
So, there we are. Hope to have fun here.
I'm a very politically active student in my community, and I plan to run for office sometime in the future to fight for things such as an increased minimum wage, more college affordability and more funding for public transit in my state. One thing that frustrates me to no end is how important a candidate's religious affiliation is to voters -- and namely how the nonreligious are looked upon negatively by the public. As an atheist (though I rarely use that term publicly), I feel constrained by these perceptions and am heartbroken to see such prejudice.
I personally have no problem at all with religion in and of itself. In fact, one of the organizations which I'm a leader for uses faith to build support for progressive initiatives, and I work with many priests, imams, and rabbis on a regular basis. But I do have a big problem with people using faith to justify denying citizens basic rights (abortion, marriage), the treatment of religious minorities as second-class citizens (as is the case with Muslims and atheists in America), and so on.
And, of course, I often clash with relatives and elders over the existence of God. Accused of "disrespect" and such of tradition.
So, there we are. Hope to have fun here.
