# Why don't liberals and Democrats fully embrace atheism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 13, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421 "2021-07-13T20:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/1 "2021-07-13T20:41:48Z")
First off, I recognize that “Democratic Party” and “liberalism” are not one and the same. Nevertheless, in order to avoid the OP turning into a long meandering sprawl of words, I’m going to have to conflate the two a lot. As far as I can tell (as a Christian-and-somewhat-right-leaning Doper), liberalism’s **substance** fully reflects what you would expect of atheism: _The Universe and life was made naturally via Big Bang/evolution, there is no intelligent design, the Bible is historically and scientifically inaccurate, people should be free to do as they please if it doesn’t harm others (if you’re gay, great, if you’re trans, great, if you want to have safe consensual sex with a hundred different legal-age partners, great), abortion is fine, prayer is useless, there is no reason women should ever be on a lower rung than men, God never steps in to intervene, religion is the cause of a great deal of harm and death in the world, we answer to no supreme deity but only ourselves (fellow mankind and society), miracles are impossible, there is no life after death, and everything has a scientific or natural explanation._ But that is not liberal **practice**. You never hear a Democratic presidential candidate openly say, “There is no God.” The Democratic National Convention featured a lot of religious references. On the contrary, Democratic politicians praise religion all the time. Why don’t liberals and Democrats go full-bore, _“There is no God, it’s just us alone on a planet in a vast universe?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/2 "2021-07-13T20:45:40Z")
It’s not an either-or thing. There are all shades of belief on the religious spectrum, something hard for sword-of-the-Lord types to accept. It’s hard to get elected on the basis of being a outright godless heathen, so most every political type gives at least lip service to religion even if they don’t buy many of its tenets. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/3 "2021-07-13T20:47:52Z")
Because there are a TON of religious Democrats and liberals (myself being one of them). Not to mention a massive constituency - African Americans are religious and liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/4 "2021-07-13T20:48:48Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > God never steps in to intervene, religion is the cause of a great deal of harm and death in the world, we answer to no supreme deity but only ourselves I don’t see these as liberal tenets. There are a lot of Christians in this country, many of them liberals. Liberalism is not even close to being the party of atheism. I doubt an open atheist could get elected, even as a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/5 "2021-07-13T20:49:26Z")
Also, atheism isn’t a catch-all for everything the OP tries to put in ‘it’. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/6 "2021-07-13T20:50:05Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s hard to get elected on the basis of being a outright godless heathen, so most every political type gives at least lip service to religion even if they don’t buy many of its tenets. Yeah, I am wondering if there have been any atheists elected to public office in this country(?) - I would guess announcing your atheism as a candidate would not fly well, even in the more liberal parts of the country. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/7 "2021-07-13T20:51:50Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Yeah, I am wondering if there have been any atheists elected to public office in this country(?) {…} > **[List of atheists in politics and law | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists_in_politics_and_law#United_States)** > > 1.Rocky Anderson (1951–): 2012 Justice Party Presidential Candidate and former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah | > 2.Cecil Bothwell (1950–): Asheville, North Carolina city council member, who was nearly denied his position because of his atheism. | > 3.Lori Lipman Brown (1958–): politician, lobbyist, lawyer, educator, and social worker supporter, Nevada state senator from 1992 to 1994. | > 4.Douglas Campbell (1959–): atheist advocate and member of the Green Party of Michigan and of the Godle ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/8 "2021-07-13T20:53:06Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You never hear a Democratic presidential candidate openly say, “There is no God.” The Democratic National Convention featured a lot of religious references. On the contrary, Democratic politicians praise religion all the time. > > Why don’t liberals and Democrats go full-bore, _“There is no God, it’s just us alone on a planet in a vast universe?”_ Cowardice, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/9 "2021-07-13T20:53:16Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Why don’t liberals and Democrats go full-bore, _“There is no God, it’s just us alone on a planet in a vast universe?”_ Maybe because they’d like to leave religion out of politics in total, and leave people to believe what they want? And it lets all people celebrate and practice their religions freely, instead of taking a stance that says there’s one right way to think when it comes to religion. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/10 "2021-07-13T20:58:29Z")
You admit to conflating liberalism and Democratism but what you have really done is conflate Christianity and lunatic fundamentalism. > [@Velocity](#): > > \*The Universe and life was made naturally via Big Bang/evolution, there is no intelligent design, the Bible is historically and scientifically inaccurate, people should be free to do as they please if it doesn’t harm others (if you’re gay, great, if you’re trans, great, if you want to have safe consensual sex with a hundred different legal-age partners, great), abortion is fine Most Christian believe the above. > [@Velocity](#): > > prayer is useless few liberals or democrats believe this. > [@Velocity](#): > > there is no reason women should ever be on a lower rung than men Seriously? What church do you go to? > [@Velocity](#): > > God never steps in to intervene, religion is the cause of a great deal of harm and death in the world, we answer to no supreme deity but only ourselves (fellow mankind and society), miracles are impossible, there is no life after death, and everything has a scientific or natural explanation.\* Most liberals and Democrats do not believe this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/11 "2021-07-13T20:59:58Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Why don’t liberals and Democrats go full-bore, _“There is no God, it’s just us alone on a planet in a vast universe?”_ Let’s flip the question over; why don’t _Republicans_ go full-bore; There is only one God and that is the God of Christianity (or even of a specific flavor of Christianity)? Can you see how that might be limiting the party? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/12 "2021-07-13T21:01:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Let’s flip the question over; why don’t _Republicans_ go full-bore; There is only one God and that is the God of Christianity (or even of a specific flavor of Christianity)? Can you see how that might be limiting the party? To a large extent, they are. Not all of them, but increasingly the party is indeed moving in that direction, especially in the era of Trump. In fact, we had a thread in GD that touched on that (the “The Christians are coming” thread). There is a New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Christian dominionism movement that is indeed gaining a stronger and stronger hold in the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/13 "2021-07-13T21:02:07Z")
To answer the OP, why would or should they? The party isn’t going to do something that neither has discernible political benefit nor would be good policy for the country (and declaring “there is no God” has nothing to do with policy). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/14 "2021-07-13T21:05:11Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Maybe because they’d like to leave religion out of politics in total, and leave people to believe what they want? Maybe they should stop God Blessing America in political speeches then. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/15 "2021-07-13T21:05:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > As far as I can tell (as a Christian-and-somewhat-right-leaning Doper), liberalism’s **substance** fully reflects what you would expect of atheism: _The Universe and life was made naturally via Big Bang/evolution, there is no intelligent design, the Bible is historically and scientifically inaccurate, people should be free to do as they please if it doesn’t harm others (if you’re gay, great, if you’re trans, great, if you want to have safe consensual sex with a hundred different legal-age partners, great), abortion is fine, prayer is useless, there is no reason women should ever be on a lower rung than men, God never steps in to intervene, religion is the cause of a great deal of harm and death in the world, we answer to no supreme deity but only ourselves (fellow mankind and society), miracles are impossible, there is no life after death, and everything has a scientific or natural explanation._ Is this what Fox News (or some other right-wing source) told you that liberalism is? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/16 "2021-07-13T21:08:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > Why don’t liberals and Democrats go full-bore, _“There is no God, it’s just us alone on a planet in a vast universe?”_ > > Let’s flip the question over; why don’t _Republicans_ go full-bore; There is only one God and that is the God of Christianity (or even of a specific flavor of Christianity)? Or to flip it in another way - why don’t conservative politicans who have little or no use for religion admit it? While many seem genuinely devout, you can bet there are substantial numbers of conservatives who are token members of their churches or agnostic/atheistic, but realize that they have to put on a good front to appeal to religious conservative voters, who would reject them in a heartbeat if they didn’t drag God into their campaign appeals. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/17 "2021-07-13T21:09:47Z")
You have got it covered, don’t you? If they don’t mention God they are atheists, and if they do mention God they are hypocrites. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/18 "2021-07-13T21:09:55Z")
Trump, for one example. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/19 "2021-07-13T21:11:09Z")
OP, is it your belief that if liberals/Democrats did so, they could wield the same kind of loyalty and power that conservatives/Republicans do by embracing fundamentalist Christianity? Because if so, I question that perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421/20 "2021-07-13T21:15:33Z")
My point isn’t about power, but consistency. I’m wondering why atheism gets a relatively cool reception within the Democratic Party despite being pretty much fully consistent with liberalism and progressivism. Not that there aren’t conservative atheists, but by and large liberalism reflects a viewpoint that is compatible with a there-is-no-God worldview. Yet, Democrats very often give atheists the cold shoulder. They’ve never run an openly atheist presidential candidate as far as I can tell, for instance, and I can’t recall the last time a Democrat ever said God didn’t exist (in contrast to vast numbers of both Republicans and Democrats who say God does exist). Considering that [atheists are far stauncher supporters of Democrats than religious people](https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/religious-family/atheist/party-affiliation/), this is a strange way to treat an ally. (sorry **Leaper** , I can’t get the quote box to work) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-liberals-and-democrats-fully-embrace-atheism/946421.md?page=2)