Atheist PAC Announces First Political Endorsements
An atheist political action committee announced Tuesday its first endorsements for both House candidates and state lawmakers.
The Freethought Equality Fund PAC, launched back in May, announced in a press release that it is officially endorsing six politicians, mostly federal, and it plans to endorse a total of 15 to 20 candidates in the upcoming months. The group's first endorsements include U.S. Rep. Jared Polis from Colorado, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt from New Jersey, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott from Virginia, U.S. House candidate Dr. Lee Rogers from California, State Rep. Carolyn Tomei from Oregon, and State Rep. Juan Mendez from Arizona.
The atheist PAC said that its endorsed candidates were chosen because they "show a commitment to promote a more secular government and a will to protect the rights of all people, including the now 20 percent of Americans that don't identify with any particular religion."
"It's long past due for our elected officials to stand up and advocate for humanistic values, and we will strongly support candidates that do," PAC Coordinator Bishop McNeill said in a statement.
McNeill added to USA Today that he believes the population of nonbelievers in the U.S. has been left out of the political process. "There's a growing number of people who identify as non-religious," he said. "But it's a group that's been left out of the political process in the past."
The Freethought Equality Fund PAC outlined why they chose to endorse each candidate, highlighting the efforts of Polis and Holt to have lawmakers pass legislation that would make Feb. 12 Darwin Day in recognition of the evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. Polis is seeking re-election in Colorado's 2nd District, and Holt is seeking re-election in New Jersey's 12th District. Rep. Bobby Scott is seeking re-election to Virginia's 3rd District, Dr. Lee Rogers (D-Calif.) is seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives and Rep. Carolyn Tomei is seeking re-election in Oregon's House District 41.
House Rep. Tomei made national headlines earlier this year when she refused to say "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and she has also been recognized for refusing to take the oath on the Bible and refusing to say "so help me God" when being sworn into office. McNeill told The Oregonian that the PAC chose to endorse Tomei because "she's been a longtime advocate about the issues we care about."
McNeill added to USA Today that the group will begin ramping up its fundraising efforts, as it has no fundraising activity on its recent Federal Election Commission filings. The atheist PAC was launched by the Center for Humanist Activism, a sister organization of the American Humanist Association.
As the Freethought Equality Fund states on its website, the purpose of the PAC is to have more nonbelievers elected to political positions in the U.S. and to also dispel the stigma that accompanies atheists in American society.
