Stereotypes be damned: A Liberal Atheist Supports Mitt

I’m a proud non-believer and a socially liberal person. Because of this, many people are surprised to find out I’m a Republican. Most people assume that all Republicans or Democrats must be one way or another. This is ignorant and ill-informed. Society has fed these stereotypes and many people fail to research beyond the talking heads on Fox, MSNBC and Comedy Central. Not all Republicans are fundamentalists and not all Democrats are socialist. There are loud fringe groups perpetuating a typecast. Placing diametrically politically-opposed individuals face-to-face on a news talk show makes for interesting television and keeps ratings high. This is the current state of politics today—emotionally charged debates broken into to sound bites for consumption by the masses. “Democrats stand for the working man and love people. Republicans are greedy and hate people.” False and cannot be further from truth.

In reality, the Democrat Party has a long history of bigotry and hatred while the Republican Party has a prestigious history as being forward-thinking and progressive. For nearly 200 years, the Democrat Party was known as the party of the rich white landowner. It was a party that always had a close tie to industry and big business. Through decades long control in Congress, Democrats shaped laws to benefit the industrialists, corporations, and themselves—a practice that continues today. As America grew and became more diverse, the party tried to adapt and maintain power. To accomplish this, it had to consolidate various special interests: urban blacks, blue collar works, unions, and others. In order to maintain power over these groups, the party propagandized and manipulated them into thinking certain liberties were being infringed upon when in reality they were not. Enemies were manufactured and maintained to this day. Because of the ignorance of these groups, they bought and continue to buy into these lies.

Republicans on the other hand are the party of low taxes, minimal government and individual liberty. This is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Robert Green Ingersoll, Teddy Roosevelt, Barry Goldwater and even Martin Luther King, Sr. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the conservative, fundamentalist Christians became extremely vocal within the GOP. Many leaders felt it necessary to appeal to this particular constituency to consolidate power as the Democrats had with blacks et al. Yes, conservative Christians have tried to impose socially conservative restrictions on abortion and marriage, but to no avail. Although extremely vocal, they have become more and more impotent throughout the past 20 years. Despite this outspoken minority, the party is still home to those with the core principals espoused by its most prominent leads throughout the past.

I support the Republican Party and Mitt Romney, because I’m liberal in a classical sense. I believe individuals should be free to do as they please without infringing on the natural rights of others. From all I’ve seen and read of Romney and based on my reading of the party platform, the GOP believes individuals have a right to be free from government intrusion into their businesses and their bedrooms. Sure, there are some who vocally express disdain for homosexuality or abortion, but neither is illegal and there is no concerted Republican effort to end either. These are mere distractions manufactured by Democrats to instill fear in their pathetic, fractured coalition. Most Republicans stand for individual liberty as do I.

I’m a Republican because I’m an atheist. The GOP has a long history of appealing to atheists. Why? Because it is the Big Tent Party. It was the party that embraced religious and non-religious diversity. Where the Democrat party sees groups, the Republican party sees individuals with varying beliefs and perspectives. It is the party of the freethinker. Robert Green Ingersoll was a vocal agnostic/atheist Republican in the 1800s. He was opposed to slavery and any sort of oppression by individuals or government. He, Ayn Rand, Milton Freidman, and other atheists are held in high regard among Republicans to this day.

Mitt Romney has demonstrated through his work as governor of Massachusetts that he is a capable businessman who understands the importance of individual liberty. He’s familiar with the hard work that goes into starting and running a successful business. Sure, he’s a Mormon, but there are plenty of good men throughout history who were indoctrinated into a religion at a young age. Based his history of government service, it seems it has had zero affect on his ability to govern. Mitt is a Republican in the vein of all the other great ones before him.

The Republican Party welcomes all nonbelievers, liberals and freethinkers. It’s the party of liberty and limited government. It always has and will continue to be the mainstream party for me.

Creationist Politicans

This is a copy of a letter I sent to several Republican TN State Representatives regarding HB 368--an anti-evolution bill. After the letter, see the response I received from one of the Reps.

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Dear Distinguished Representatives:

I appreciate the work you’re doing to lower taxes and keep the federal government at bay. I’m proud to have Republicans in control, but as I expressed this morning, the Republican take-over has become bittersweet. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my objections to HB 368.

The issue of evolution is something in which I have had profound interest in recent years. I was raised a Southern Baptist and was devout. I’m a licensed minister, worked as a youth minister, and even worked for the Tennessee Baptist Convention in Brentwood and the Southern Baptist Executive Committee in Nashville. So, there’s no doubt what I was RAISED to BELIEVE. However, I have researched this topic extensively and know it quite well.

Let’s not mince words. This bill seeks to bring creationism into the classroom. Unfortunately, neither creationism nor Intelligent Design has met the rigorous standards set forth in science. There are absolutely NO peer-review articles on the topic that have met the muster to be included in scientific journals. I’m familiar with all the creationist writers, have read their books, and understand their arguments completely. They’re just not up to par. Evolution on the other hand has over 150 years of rigorous testing and evidence to support it as fact. In fact, evangelical Christian Dr. Francis Collins, who was partially responsible for mapping the human genome, was critical in showing me the fact of evolution. To deny DNA shows the relatedness of all living creatures, one would have to deny DNA shows I am related to my father. It’s the same science. There is a mountain of evidence I could show you, but I won’t bother doing it here. If you have interest, I’d be more than happy to show you the work that has been done.

This bill is bad law, because a PA court ruled in Kitzmiller v. Dover trial in 2005 and the Bush-appointed judge whole-heartedly agreed that Intelligent Design is creationism in disguise. If we allow teachers to teach this unsubstantiated pseudo-science, ANY teacher of ANY religious affiliation can teach his/her view of creation. Creationism is just as unsubstantiated as some Eastern religion that says the universe was birthed by a pink cow in space. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to ridicule Christianity, but I am saying that it is clearly not science and has no place in the classroom--something ALL Republicans should agree with.

To create an atmosphere where teachers are encouraged to teach pseudo-science will dumb-down our students and will be a grave mistake for the future of Tennessee. I beg you to oppose this bill and keep non-science out of the classroom.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Daniel A. Brown

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Response from Rep. Richard Floyd. All punctuation is as he sent it:

Dear Mr. Brown,

May I suggest that you might want to go back and read the book of Genesis one more .Thank our awesome God and His wonderful Son ,Jesus, that I was able to miss your professors.

Because He Lives !!!

Rep. Richard Floyd"