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Defending and protecting Atheism worldwide: an address given by Ellen Johnson, President, American Atheists before the Sixteenth World Humanist Congress, Paris, France, July 4, 2005.

Article Excerpt
During the first week of July, 2005, Humanists, Rationalists, Secularists, Freethinkers, and Atheists gathered at UNESCO headquarters and the Sorbonne for the Sixteenth World Humanist Congress. Over 300 defenders of secularism reviewed the state of separation of religion and state, and assessed the prospects for Humanism and Freethought both in their respective countries and worldwide. The congress was also attended by a number of UNESCO officials as well as leading academics and activists.

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Merci Beaucoup! When I was asked to speak on the topic of "Defending and Protecting Atheism Worldwide," I was immediately struck by the enormity of the subject. Think about it. Think of the social, political, and cultural obstacles we have to overcome. Think about all of the work we have ahead of us.

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One of the things I tell American audiences, in discussing these challenges, is that when you walk around Washington, DC, it is striking how every conceivable organization and interest group is represented there. There are over 30,000 registered lobbyists in our nation's capital. And just about every religious group has an office there. They represent the interests of churches, and mosques. and temples; and they spend millions of dollars to make sure that these interests are protected and that their agenda becomes law. This is duplicated in every state capital throughout America.

Religious groups have huge, effective political and cultural mechanisms for shaping public opinion and mobilizing their followers. When I mention the term 'religious fundamentalist,' you probably think of some uneducated, unsophisticated snake-handler foaming at the mouth and spewing out phrases from the Bible; but in the United States, Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists have become sophisticated political operatives. They control the Republican Party. They have television and radio networks, and even extremists like Pat Robertson and James Dobson have a high profile in the secular media. The American Family Association boasts that it floods Congressional representatives with 50,000 letters, FAXes and telephone calls within 24-hours--and that goes a long way in determining which legislation gets passed and who gets appointed to the judiciary. They are, in effect, a political machine that no politician can ignore.

I tell Atheists that if we want to have that sort of presence, we have to borrow a chapter from the religious right's 'How-To' manual. we have to start electing and influencing politicians, which is why I set up the Godless Americans Political Action Committee. In terms of becoming more effective, we have to become more politically savvy, we have to do with our ideas what Pat Robertson and Dobson have done for theirs. We have to become 'players' in the political process.

I can't stand here and tell you to do the same. That has to be your decision. I can tell you that throughout the world, we would be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunities that democracy offers. If you want to change the culture, if you want to influence the course of politics, some of it you have to do it as an insider. This doesn't mean that we neglect the other things we're organized for. And if we're realists, we have to accept the idea that for the immediate future, at least, we will remain--in part--as 'outsiders,' as a minority.

We like to talk about how secularism is spreading, how Atheists are 'coming out of the closet'--and all of this is true--but there are countervailing forces at work here that we have to acknowledge. The point is that despite globalization and the fact that especially in the West we think of ourselves as modernists and cosmopolitans--citizens of the world advancing an Enlightenment agenda--religious fundamentalism is on the rise. There are many reasons for this. But the point remains that spreading the 'good news,' the positive and humane and enlightened messages of Atheism and secularism is going to remain in our lifetimes a...

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