Did You Catch This in the New York Times?

A few days ago, an article appeared in The New York Times which included this remark:

“This is a deeply religious nation by many standards,” said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. “They want their leaders to be believers. They want them to believe in something higher, to have a moral framework as they lead the country.”

Lori Lipman Brown, the lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America, had a letter-to-the-editor regarding that comment in today’s NYT:

To the Editor:

“God ’08: Whose, and How Much, Will Voters Accept?” (Week in Review, July 22):

Your coverage of the prejudice against nontheists in the voting booth did not examine the misinformation that leads to this discrimination.

It specifies how Americans care “more generally about whether the candidate believes in God and how that lends itself to a moral framework.” But in fact those of us who live without any belief in a god or gods can also follow highly ethical moral frameworks.

Until Americans start voting based on issues rather than theologies of candidates, they will not elect representatives who truly share both their values and policy goals.

Lori Lipman Brown
Director, Secular Coalition for America

Nicely put.


[tags]atheist, atheism, The New York Times, Mark Rozell, George Mason University, Lori Lipman Brown, Secular Coalition for America, God[/tags]