Freely thinking
The following is a prepared statement sent to me by the Piedmont Freethought Association about everyone's favorite (or not) campaign ad:
The Piedmont Freethought Association is a group of North Carolina citizens that has met in Greensboro for many years. Our members have in common only the fact that we do not accept religion as unquestionable truth. We represent non-believing and non religious Americans from all walks of life. Like most Americans, we pay taxes, raise families, and donate time and money to charitable causes to serve our country and communities. We also hold many diverse political philosophies including Republican, Democrat, and Independent. Therefore, the Association is not usually interested in participating in political races that take place here. We certainly have never discussed the notion of endorsing or opposing any candidate for public office.However, the recent use of an attack ad by Senator Elizabeth Dole against her opponent, Kay Hagan, has led us to make the following statement:
Senator Dole's use of scare tactics, implying that her opponent is either atheist or in sympathy with atheists, does a great disservice to the people of this state. There are a large number of people in North Carolina who do not follow a religion and do not believe in a God or Gods, yet do strongly believe in the principles of democracy and freedom of religion that our nation was founded on. No member of the Piedmont Freethought Association, past or present, has done anything to warrant the insinuation by Senator Dole that we are in any way dangerous or worthy of lesser standing as citizens than anyone else. This is an insult to all of us, but especially those veterans in our association who proudly served and sacrificed for our country in uniform.
We respect Senator Dole's right to say whatever she pleases in her ads, restricted only by campaign laws and funding. However, we respectfully request that she consider removing this ad from circulation as a matter of civic decency. We also ask that she issue a statement to the effect that she recognizes that non-believers and all minority citizens of North Carolina have full rights and standing to participate in the voting process, and to express their views. Finally, we ask that she apologize to Kay Hagan for insinuating there should be a religious test for public office.
