Human Rights and Atheists – Hamilton Wenham Liberals for Democracy

Written by Barbara A. Smith,

Concerned Hamilton Citizen and Activist Blogger for transparency in government.. at Hamilton Wenham Liberals for Democracy

https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/

“The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior ‘righteous indignation’ — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.”

~ Aldous Huxley

When I attended my first Annual Hamilton Town Meeting 25 years ago I was astonished to hear a religious leader opening with a prayer. This was a blatant violation of the wall separating church and state and an offense to people who care about their Constitutional rights.

I wrote a letter of complaint to the select board and received a reply stating that prayer was a sacred tradition. I felt unwelcome in my new community.

Pledging Threatens Democracy and Human Rights

By the time I attended another Town meeting several years later, the prayer was discontinued, but the Pledge of Allegiance under “god” was still recited, a reminder that the rights of non-believers don’t count. Pledging continues to be a method of indoctrination .and discrimination. McCarthyism was a tool for attacking not only atheists, but people of color, the LGBTQ community and any dissenters including Dr. Martin Luther King.

The words “under god” were added in 1954 to combat atheism and communism during the McCarthy era witch hunts. I didn’t want to pledge allegiance to a flag back in the 1960s for many reasons including the falsehood that American is indivisible and just. Here is what can happen to a moden-day young activist….

Regardless of the flag pledge, I was eager to attend the town meeting in May 2021 because I wanted to see monies directed toward renovating the town hall so that it was in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. (Note that-the measure passed Hamilton’s legislature at All Town Meeting along with 60% of the funding; but the 40% of funding did not pass the separate ballot exercise. Therefore, sadly, rectifying the situation is still a work in progress. …..

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is hamilton-town-meeting-5-1-21-small.jpg — Collage by Barbara Smith

What are Secular Humanism and Atheism?

The terms secular humanist, freethinker, non-believer and atheist are frequently used interchangably. In this essay I am using the term atheist simply because I believe it is better understood and more widely used. Atheists simply do not believe in supernatural beings and…..

“Who are the secular humanists? Perhaps everyone who believes in the principles of free inquiry, ethics based upon reason, and a commitment to science, democracy, and freedom. Perhaps even you.”
— Paul Kurtz (1925 – 2012),
founder of the Council for Secular Humanism
and Free Inquiry Magazine.

A Few Misconceptions about Atheists

I have personally been accused of being immoral, unethical, untrustworthy, uncaring and generally a bad person because I do not believe in religion nor gods. I’ve been told to keep such thoughts to myself. I have always had my beliefs belittled and my human rights denied , but fortunately Hamilton now has a Human Rights Commission to protect my rights!

The Summer of Woke- 2020

I had demonstrated with Black Lives Matter Activists in Boston before the pandemic and was quite excited over the summer of 2020 to observe political changes not only in the United States, but also our small towns of Hamilton and Wenham. The North Shore NAACP was created to specifically promote social justice for African Americans.

….and Creation of the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition

In 2021 the Hamilton-Wenham Human Rights Coalition was created in theory to strengthen rights for all marginalized groups. I was proud to attend the Juneteenth Ceremony . I personally felt that the 2 town coalition created as a non-governmental entity was adequate to provide nongovernmental advocacy for social justice issues. I was impressed with the work put into other social justice events including a Pride Picnic. Unfortunately, and inexplicably people such as myself who did not attend this particular event for various reasons (dislike of crowds, a broken ankle etc.) were insulted with raised eyebrows and accusations of being anti-LGBTQ rights or a term I recently learned TERFs.

In addition, people who disagree with any of the HWHRC leadership have been called “racists” and “anti human rights”.

The HWHRC is a private, 501(c)(4) non-profit, political organization that uses “dark money” from national and international sources that are kept secret to financially support approved political candidates who sign the “Pledge”, to agree to the group’s rules. There is a lot of influence and money that accompanies the chosen candidate and candidates who refuse to sign have been virtually blacklisted and considered traitors. This is the same as Mccarthyism and naming witches….

A Poison to Democracy

I have personally been banned from commenting or posting on the HWHRC Facebook page because I stated my opinions. Let me repeat them here:

Elected or appointed town officials should not be asked to sign a fidelity pledge
Atheists and women should be included as marginalized populations that need to be protected by any human rights policies
Organizational leaders must stop demonizing and name-calling others in our community who dissent
Stop banning dissenting voices on the HWHRC website and Facebook page.
Stop promoting the WE vs THEM mentality in a community organization that should allow diversity of views and voices.

We must Protect Atheists in Human Rights Policy

I committed the sin of agreeing with 2 of the select board members, that there is no rush to create human rights policy. Nobody’s rights are being denied just because the board takes the time to study and analyze the consequences of policy. Since the latest Hamilton Commission policy version includes the naming of many marginalized groups that need protection- why not add 2 more- atheists and women? People who are not members of a marginalized group often do not understand why we need protection.

According to the 6/7/21 Hamilton Human Rights Commission minutes, “THE BOS agreed that we should not include women and atheists in the list of protected classes but that we should research adding a definitions section”. I know that at least 2 of the board members voted to include these 2 marginalized groups.

The big question is why would anyone be against protecting atheists and women in the first place?

Perhaps Atheism is Misunderstood!

I will try to clarify……

Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion. Atheism has nothing to do with religion. I tolerate people with religious beliefs and I expect tolerance in return. In addition, religious institutions such as houses of worship and colleges have undue influence and abilities to promote hate and intolerance for marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community. For example, read about Gordon College and the pledge. It is hypocritical to both belong to a human rights organization while at the same time allowing members past, present or future to be associated with discriminating institutions. Since the Hamilton Human Rights Commission was created as a governmental entity and is overseen by the Select Board- the appearance of undue religious influence becomes more critical than ever. Why can’t the Human Rights policy include protections of atheists and women? ( I will discuss the special situation of women in another post)

Atheists are not few nor hidden away. According to sociologist Phil Zuckerman, broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a deity range from 500 to 750 million people worldwide.^[5] They come in a variety of shapes, colors, beliefs, convictions, and backgrounds and across the political spectrum. They are individuals who live in urban, suburban, and rural communities and in every state of the nation, but what ties them together is a lack of belief in gods.

Atheists are not more or less moral than people who believe in gods. Tomas Ståhl, a professor of psychology at University of Illinois Chicago, analyzed several cross-national surveys comparing the US, a relatively religious country, and Sweden, one of the most secular countries in the world. Researchers found non-believers and believers shared similar views on fairness and not hurting people.

Atheists find meaning in life. Like a majority of Americans, most atheists mentioned “family” as a source of meaning when Pew Research Center asked an open-ended question about this in a 2017 survey. But atheists were far more likely than Christians to describe hobbies as meaningful or satisfying (26% vs. 10%). Atheists also were more likely than Americans overall to describe finances and money, creative pursuits, travel, and leisure activities as meaningful. Not surprisingly, very few U.S. atheists (4%) said they found life’s meaning in spirituality.

Why Do Atheists Need to be a Protected Class?

The United States and the rest of the world share a long and ugly history of hate toward atheists!

The following is just a snippet, copied from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists

In some Muslim-majority countries, atheists face persecution and severe penalties such as the withdrawal of legal status or, in the case of apostasy, capital punishment.^[7]
During the early modern period, the term “atheist” was used as an insult and applied to a broad range of people, including those who held opposing theological beliefs, as well as those who had committed suicide, immoral or self-indulgent people, and even opponents of the belief in witchcraft.^[12][13][17] Atheistic beliefs were seen as threatening to order and society by philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas. Lawyer and scholar Thomas More said that religious tolerance should be extended to all except those who did not believe in a deity or the immortality of the soul.^[15] John Locke, a founder of modern notions of religious liberty, argued that atheists (as well as Catholics and Muslims) should not be granted full citizenship rights.^[15]
In Germany during the Nazi era, a 1933 decree stated that “No National Socialist may suffer detriment… on the ground that he does not make any religious profession at all”.^[24] However, the regime strongly opposed “godless communism”,^[25][26] and all of Germany’s atheist and largely left-wing freethought organizations such as the German Freethinkers League (500,000 members)^[27] were banned the same year; some right-wing groups were tolerated by the Nazis until the mid-1930s.^[28][29] In a speech made later in 1933, Hitler claimed to have “stamped out” the atheistic movement.^[24]
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. In 1993, the UN’s human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief”.^[36] The committee further stated that “the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views”. Signatories to the convention are barred from “the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers” to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, atheists still are persecuted in some parts of the world.^[37][38]
A 2009 survey showed that atheists were the most hated demographic group in Brazil, among several other minorities polled, being almost on par with drug addicts. According to the research, 17% of the interviewees stated they felt either hatred or repulsion for atheists, while 25% felt antipathy and 29% were indifferent.^[51]
In most of Europe, atheists are elected to office at high levels in many governments without controversy.^[41] Some atheist organizations in Europe have expressed concerns regarding issues of separation of church and state, such as administrative fees for leaving the Church charged in Germany,^[42] and sermons being organized by the Swedish parliament.^[43] Ireland requires religious training from Christian colleges in order to work as a teacher in government-funded schools.^[44] In the UK one-third of state-funded schools are faith-based.^[45] However, there are no restrictions on atheists holding public office – the former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, is an atheist.^[46
Discrimination against atheists in the United States occurs in legal, personal, social, and professional contexts. Many American atheists compare their situation to the discrimination faced by ethnic minorities, LGBTQ communities, and women.^{[56][57][58][59]} “Americans still feel it’s acceptable to discriminate against atheists in ways considered beyond the pale for other groups,” asserted Fred Edwords of the American Humanist Association.^[60] The degree of discrimination, persecution, and social stigma atheists face in the United States, compared to other persecuted groups in the United States has been the subject of study and a matter of debate.^{[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][excessive citations]}
Some states require belief in “god” in order to hold elected office. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists
My son was forced to claim belief in “god” in order to participate in Boy Scouts. “Duty to God” is a principle of Scouting worldwide, though it is applied differently among countries.^[162][163] The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) takes a strong position, excluding atheists and agnostics,^[164][165] while Girl Scouts of the USA takes a more neutral position