I generally am bored by essays about the secularization of America, particularly when they argue that secularization will lead to a dystopian future in which the United States resembles Sweden. I’ve never been to Sweden, but if it is the third happiest country in the world, how bad can it be?
I’ve never found a word that I feel comfortable applying to my religious beliefs. Culturally and temperamentally, I am a Protestant, but almost no one seems to share my definition of that term. It would be impossible to be less of a theist than I am, but the word “atheist” has lost it’s original meaning of “not a theist” to connote something affirmative, almost like a set of beliefs. I like the word “agnostic” which technically means “someone without special wisdom or knowledge of religious matters.” Correctly understood, an agnostic is someone who doesn’t know whether there is or isn’t a God. But that doesn’t reflect my confidence in rejecting theism. On the other hand, anyone who thinks utterly rejecting theism means you are completely confident that you understand the universe is a moron. In my case, it’s more a matter of moving so far beyond a question that it no longer exists. No, there is no Sky God, but that is a debate for people who lived in the 16th Century, not for people who fly spacecrafts out of the Solar System.
So, whatever, I am not going to call myself any of those things because the second I do you will start making false assumptions about me. What bothers me is that most of the the presidents we had in this country from its founding until World War One were not what you would call “theists.” But today, you have to profess theism to even be considered for high office. We’re undergoing a massive shift in pubic attitudes about homosexuality and electing more and more gay and lesbian politicians, which is great. But anyone who doesn’t sign up for theism can forget about high office, especially on the statewide or national level. That’s a shame for people like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, who could never be president in modern America because they weren’t theists.
I accept my oppressed status without much complaint, but I have to welcome any news that people like me are becoming more socially acceptable. In that regard, I’d very much like to see this country become more like Sweden. But, really, you’ve been reading this blog for a long time. Can you remember me talking about my religious beliefs or complaining about how my beliefs are treated? I have no religious agenda that I want to impose on anyone. I just want to be able to run for office without pretending that I think there is some bearded man in space who is pretending to be Zeus.
