Atheists & Agnostics

RussBLib

(9,036 posts) Sat Apr 30, 2016, 10:38 AM Apr 2016

Jamie Raskin wins primary in Maryland

Chances are good that Jamie will win in the General Election on November to join the US House. It's Chris van Hollen's seat, and Chris won the primary to replace retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski.

from Patheos

Jamie Raskin, An Openly Humanist U.S. House Candidate from Maryland, Just Won His Primary

Raskin could become the next (and only) openly non-theistic member of Congress. In 2014, Democrat Rep. Chris Van Hollen won the same seat with 60% of the votes.

Raskin came to my attention years ago for a memorable retort he made (before he was in elected office) at a hearing concerning same-sex marriage:

“People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don’t put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible,” he said.

Raskin has been in the Maryland State Senate since 2006 and was selected as majority whip in 2012. He has the experience that recent atheist candidates for public office have lacked and a very real shot at winning the seat. More importantly, while he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s not religious, he also doesn’t flaunt it in a way that might alienate religious voters. It’s a non-issue for him — which is exactly how it should be. (The more interesting question will be whether his opponent will try to use his Humanism against him.)

If Raskin wins his race, he would become the first openly non-religious candidate to win a new seat in Congress. (Pete Stark’s admission came long after he first entered political office; he won two re-elections after coming out as a non-theist.)

more at the original.