Congress Likely To Get Its Only Openly Atheist Member In November

[rug]

Jamie Raskin will swear to uphold the Constitution, not the Bible.



EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
Jamie Raskin doesn’t hide his belief that people can lead ethical lives without fearing God.

04/27/2016 04:57 pm ET
Nick Wing

WASHINGTON — Maryland state Sen. Jamie Raskin (D) made headlines Tuesday by defeating a primary opponent who poured $12.7 million of his own money into the race — a record-setting amount for a self-funded U.S. House campaign. He could garner national attention again if he wins the general election — a likely possibility in Maryland’s heavily blue 8th Congressional District.

With a victory in November, Raskin would become the only openly atheist member of Congress.

Raskin does not hide his humanist beliefs, a philosophy that eschews supernatural faith and holds that it’s possible to lead an ethical life without fearing God. He is a member of the nonprofit American Humanist Association, which lobbies Congress on the separation of church and state, and was supported by the group’s Freethought Equality Fund political action committee. (He also teaches constitutional law.)

Raskin is perhaps best known in nontheist circles for testimony he gave in 2006 in favor of marriage equality in Maryland, when he reminded a state senator that lawmakers “place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution. They don’t put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jamie-raskin-atheist-congress_us_5720eb95e4b01a5ebde42002

[al bupp]

1. i wish there were more like him /nt