All Atheists Are Not Created Equal

"What do you think about all the progressive faith caucuses at the DNC this year?"

That was the question I asked more than 50 people in the Convention Center in Denver today who self-identified as atheist or agnostic. This is, of course, a totally unscientific way to proceed, but over the last few hours a very strong pattern emerged.

First, it has been interesting to me that I have not had to explain to people that faith events have been taking place. Everybody had some idea that this was happening. And everybody had an opinion, often a very strong opinion.

Those Democrats who were born in Europe, to a person, said they were appalled. "In Denmark," a young woman told me, "politics and religion are just not together." Her young friend nodded and said, "No way religion in government." Both women said they were under 30. But their views were identical to the German woman immigrant who said she was 60. "We Germans know this is a bad idea, always."

That demographic similarity did not hold for the folks I talked to who were born in the U.S. and there was a marked racial difference between the respondents. White delegates over 50 expressed very similar views to the European immigrants. "Religion and politics should be separated." "It's pandering even if they're sincere." "Mixing politics and religion tends to squash religious freedom." I talked to people for hours and did not find anyone in that age and racial grouping who self-identified as a secular person who thought the faith caucuses, even when the topic was poverty or the environment, were a good idea. One woman wearing a "Hillary for Obama" button said she was "appalled by Saddleback," (the Saddleback Church event with Rev. Rick Warren and both Obama and McCain). She thought Obama had been "suckered into doing that" and even if poverty was the topic, the progressive faith events were a bad idea because "we can address poverty without dragging faith into it."

On the other end of the spectrum, the whole under-30 crowd who self-identified as atheist or agnostic were in favor of the progressive faith events, with one exception. Most of these young people thought having progressive faith caucuses was, as one young woman exclaimed, "fabulous!" When I asked her why it was fabulous, she said that she works on environmental issues and "I've met all these great people of faith working on the environment."

I talked at length to six young people from Pennsylvania, all of whom were white and under 30. They self-identified as atheist or agnostic, except for one young man who said he was "searching." They thought faith caucuses were "a great idea...because as Democrats we're a big tent, we want everybody to feel welcome." Another said, "Democrats like diversity and it's just another diversity." A young woman in the group said she'd been at the Faith in Action Interfaith Celebration on Sunday and she was so moved by Sister Helen Prejean and the Muslim presentation. Another young woman with blue hair giving out "Pro-Choice" buttons took a more pragmatic view. "The Republicans think they own faith and besides it's more voters."

The one young person I spoke to who did not think the faith caucuses were a good idea was an African American who said she was "secular"; she was wearing a "Stonewall Democrats" button, a designation for the gay caucus. She thought faith caucuses were a bad idea because "it would have no impact."

But every other African American I talked to, of any age group, thought the faith caucuses were a great idea. Of the 25 or so African Americans to whom I spoke, however, I could find only 5 who said, somewhat apologetically, that they were atheist or agnostic, and one said she was "spiritual but not very religious." All of them were in their 30s.

Several things became clearer in the last few hours in this unscientific sampling of self-identified atheist or agnostic Democrats. Everybody knew that for the first time, this DNC has faith caucuses. The over-50 crowd who are white and secular are very unhappy and very nervous about what this portends for the Democratic party. The under 30s who are white are pragmatic, welcoming and apparently used to working across religious/secular lines on issues like the environment. They don't really see a problem. African Americans are more likely to be people of faith, though the older African Americans tended to express more confident faith views. They could see absolutely no problem with faith caucuses, though one African American woman over 50 told me that her friend had invited her to the faith caucus "to make you more progressive." It's not the fact of having faith caucuses that was confronting her, it was the religious diversity and progressive faith views expressed.

All secularists, like all people of faith, are not created equal. There are, however, significant age and race differences among those to whom I spoke at this DNC. The good news is that the younger generation, whether religious or secular, is more tolerant of difference and focused primarily on getting the job of social change done.

"On Faith" panelist Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is paying her own way to the Democratic National Convention as a registered Democrat and an unpaid volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign.

By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite  |  August 27, 2008; 3:24 PM ET
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