Not all Democrats are created equal. Over the course of the debt crisis, we’ve learned that some Democrats are far too eager to compromise with even the most extreme, small-minded Republican tactics. And then there are those Democrats who may as well be Republicans. One of them is Rep. Heath Shuler, of North Carolina’s 11th District.
Heath Shuler is opposed to gay marriage, ENDA and anti-hate-crime legislation, and even has ties to “The Family,” a shadowy, ultra-conservative group associated with the Uganda “kill the gays” bill. He is staunchly anti-abortion, voting to defund Planned Parenthood and against life-saving stem cell research. He’s also specifically opposed to Nancy Pelosi’s party leadership and has tried to challenge her for leadership positions in the House. The only place where Shuler seems to have any agreement with his fellow Dems is concern for the poor, criticizing House Republican attempts to cut food and nutrition assistance for new mothers as “not responsible,” yet with his anti-equality views as extreme as they are, it’s hard to know what to make of such a slim silver lining.
via Wikipedia
Luckily, this Blue Dog has a challenger in the form of Cecil Bothwell, currently a member of the Asheville city council. Bothwell is a strong supporter of the gay community; in fact, he has spoken at rallies for LGBT causes. He is also a strong supporter of women’s rights, even volunteering to escort patients past protesters at Femcare, an abortion clinic in Asheville. But what is perhaps most interesting about Bothwell is his religion. While Shuler is a self-identified “evangelical Christian,” Bothwell is that rarest of species in modern American politics: an out-and-proud atheist.
A June 2011 Pew Research survey asked Americans which traits would make them more or less likely to support a candidate for president. All the predictable ones were there: 24% said they’d be less likely to support a candidate who tried marijuana, 46% one who has had an extramarital affair, 51% one who has never held political office (sorry, Donald Trump!) and, unfortunately, 33% are less likely to support a candidate for being gay. But one quality stood head and shoulders above the rest: a whopping 61% of Americans would be less likely to support a candidate for not believing in God, with only 5% being more likely to support him/her and 33% claiming it would make no difference. Previous polls have shown that a majority of Americans (53% in 2007) won’t vote for an atheist at all. Which is strange to think about, when, speaking as an agnostic myself, it’s not like we’re regularly denied jobs or subjected to hate crimes because of our religion (unlike other religious minorities in the U.S., such as Muslims). And unbelievers are hardly uncommon; 13.2% of Americans claim to have “no religion,” and while the nonreligious are not all nontheistic, taken together they are the second largest religious group in the country after Christians. Almost everyone knows an atheist or two. So why are nontheists so unelectable? And what does this mean for Bothwell? After all, he is only running for House, not for President.
Even when Bothwell was only looking at local politics, his religion (or rather, his lack of it) was quite an issue. In 2009, religious opponents of Bothwell filed a lawsuit claiming he could not be sworn in to the Asheville City Council because he did not profess a belief in an “Almighty God,” required by the North Carolina state constitution. Of course, that particular section is unenforceable, because it violates the U.S. Constitution (more on that in a moment). Yet they still managed to raise quite a fuss over it, especially when Bothwell chose to swear a non-religious oath and not use a Bible. Previously, his opponents had tried to discredit him by specifically using Bothwell’s nontheism against him in their campaign mailings.
via cecilbothwell.com
Can’t a guy get a break? Especially in a country that is supposedly founded on religion and politics being separate?
Everybody knows about the First Amendment, even if they can’t all quote it: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” But even before James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights, the Constitution already had Article VI, one bit you rarely hear quoted by the Tea Party:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article VI obviously invalidates North Carolina’s “Almighty God” requirement; even the Roberts Supreme Court wouldn’t hesitate to declare it unconstitutional were it enforced. Article VI, unlike some other parts of the document, is not even the least bit vague. Yet, while the Constitution can force the law to be blind to religion, it can’t force the voter. Cecil Bothwell can’t be blocked outright from running, but that doesn’t mean it won’t still be an uphill battle. After all, Bothwell is dealing with a lot of the same people expected to shoot down Mitt Romney’s presidential hopes purely due to his Mormonism; how on earth, then, can we expect them to respect an atheist?
via religiondispatches.org
Sarah Jaffe poses this question in her must-read article “Can a Progressive Atheist Defeat the Democrats’ ‘Family Man’ in NC?” In it, she notes how terrible many of Shuler’s policies have been, and explains what a superior choice Bothwell would be. Yet, his battle has recently become even tougher, now that Republicans in the NC government have successfully gerrymandered the map so that liberal Asheville no longer lies within the 11th District — making it difficult even for Shuler to keep his seat. It’s difficult to imagine Bothwell winning the election, even if he can manage to push ahead of Shuler in the Democratic primary.
Yet, with a “friend” like Shuler (who also recently opposed the plan to raise the debt ceiling), who needs enemies? Would a Republican really be that much worse? Bothwell and Jaffe alike seem to think that Shuler’s particular brand of right-wing Christianity does not belong even in North Carolina. At least if Bothwell can win the primary, liberals can show they are done making nice with misogynistic homophobes like Shuler simply to earn more Democratic seats — especially when those seats don’t really help the Democrats’ voting power. And by choosing an “unelectable” atheist, NC voters would be taking another small step toward full equality in America.
Bothwell is a local cheese brand here, and Cecil made me think of that director Cecil B. but I forgot his last name so it turned into Cecil B. Dementor of Cheeseland in my head.
I hope he succeeds.
You’re thinking of Cecil B. DeMille. And probably also the John Waters film Cecil B. Demented.
BING. Still, I like how it got changed into Dementor automatically instead of Demented lol
An out and proud atheist?! Amazing! Best of luck to Bothwell. This county needs a lot more elected officials just like him.
Unfortunately… religion always gets in the way.
The redistricting completely screws over all western NC democrats, unfortunately. It’s not just that it moves Asheville out of the 11th, but it actually splits the most liberal parts of Asheville in half, splitting the for sure democrat vote between the 11th and the 10th, and by splitting it apart, it’s so unlikely either will end up going democrat. Which leaves pretty much the entire region represented by Republicans, when the most populated area is heavily liberal.
It’s literally the most convoluted thing. I can’t even.
That makes me sad. Asheville is a super cool city and Bothwell seems like an excellent candidate. I live in a state that’s equally as conservative as NC and was feeling vicariously excited about the prospect of y’all electing this guy. I hope he pulls through, Republican gerrymandering be damned!
I hope so, too! Both Democrats and Republicans in NC are pretty corrupt as hell, to be honest, so it’d be nice to see someone that sticks to…actually voting for a way that represents his constituents. For once.
What if you all moved to the other side of town All At Once, and reregistered there?
I feel like they should just give him the seat as a reward for our effort, in that case.
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I think politics is going through some serious changes. Note that the Tea Party has shrunk back to its beginnings per latest poll numbers. There is a populist hunger that spans left to right. I truly believe that the accepted wisdom, upon which the recent gerrymander was based, is flawed. Structural change is going to come. The current two party system is not set in stone, and I notice we no longer see Whigs or Tories or Know Nothings in Congress.
Update for anyone still tuning in here: Shuler announced his retirement, but tapped his Chief of Staff, another Blue Dog with similar views, as his second string QB. Our campaign is going great, we’ve raised almost $54,000 as of this morning. We have vols on the ground in every county, with over 1,200 who have signed on to do grass roots work. Billboards up across this huge district, radio ads in the can, ready to roll. We’re going to win in May, and win in November.
The miscalculation the GOP has made is to assume that social conservatives will follow them anywhere, while forgetting the deep populist streak of the people in these mountains. We’re converting Tea Party people who are coming aboard, we’ve got religious devotees who believe in separation of church and state, we’ve got people worried about jobs, homes, families and schools. And women have totally had it with the GOP efforts to turn them into second class citizens again. Please help if you can. Every $1 donation matters.
How you people can pat each other on the back and revell in ignornace is amazing. You self proclaimed atheist should be proud,without a belief system you don’t have any basis for your moral character. Without that you can and do change things to fit your belief at the time you say it. You don’n lie because without a belief system of any kind lying doesn’t matter. Why don’t you focus on things that do matter like the fact that 46% of the children born last year were to unwed single women living in poverty who are having babies so the liberal welfare state will pay for their existance. What are the chances of those kids having any normal life?? Oh I forgot normal is subject to change because your atheist with no basis for normal.
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