In February, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in The American Legion v. American Humanist Association. The case arose from a challenge to a 40-foot-tall cross on public land in Blandensburg, Md., near the intersection of two major highways. It was erected by the community 93 years ago as a World War I memorial.
A federal appeals court found the cross unconstitutional, but most smart money is on a reversal when the Supreme Court issues its opinion later this year. The only question is how wide the gate will open to the imposition of religion in public spaces.
Given the current conservative majority, and their prior rulings and statements, the likelihood is that the opening will be very wide, indeed.
This case, and most legal precedent, examines the tension between establishment of religion and freedom of religious expression. In order to make a determination regarding constitutionality, the Supreme Court and many defenders of religious displays and practices interrogate a case only to assess whether religion, invariably Christianity, is being actively established. The religious justices and most Christians have a very different notion of “establishment” than my life experience and other evidence suggests.
As an atheist, I have experienced the force of religious “establishment” my entire life.
As a small child in a small town, the first question asked by my friends’ parents was often, “What church does your family attend?” In school I was expected to utter the Pledge of Allegiance, “under God” and all, despite a queasy feeling that I was lying. My coins read “In God We Trust.” As I held them, I felt the pressure of conformity. I eagerly joined the Cub Scouts — mostly for the crisp, blue uniform — but stopped after a few weeks because the Scout leader began every meeting with a prayer.
My friends all went to a Tuesday Bible class and made fun of me because I didn’t join them, so I did. I felt something profoundly disturbing about the unctuous woman who loomed over me with sanctimonious intimacy. I didn’t go back.
Just this fall, I felt the mild discomfort of standing with parents and other caregivers at my granddaughter’s public school as the Pledge of Allegiance was mindlessly recited and all present declared their allegiance to God’s country. My silence and refusal to place hand on heart were probably not noticed and I wouldn’t particularly care at this age if someone frowned. But the unspoken social pressure to conform to Christianity is a frequent experience for many atheists and those of other faiths.
Seven states (Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) have constitutional prohibitions to an atheist holding elected office. At this moment, there is no “avowed” atheist in Congress, although I’m sure some members simply keep their non-belief to themselves.
In 2017, a Huffington Post reporter wrote that he could find only one openly atheist state legislator in all of America. In a 2012 Gallup poll, respondents ranked atheists below Muslims and gay folks in terms of their willingness to vote for them.
The argument of the faithful is circular and insincere. They claim that the cross in Maryland, and other public monuments, are secular or harmless. Then many Christians point to monuments and other symbols of religion as de facto proof that America was founded as a Christian nation.
The Christian right wing is determined to impose its religious values on the country, and that was a very significant factor in the election of Donald Trump and his fundamentalist vice president.
The freedom to discriminate against gay people has been affirmed by conservative courts, and the current administration is guaranteeing that bias for a generation to come with the appointment of conservative judges and justices. The movement to erode women’s reproductive rights is driven by the religious right.
Ignoring these ominous signs is naïve.
Every public symbol furthers this Christian hegemony. I cringe when public officials say the obligatory “God bless America” or start meetings with a prayer. These things are not innocent. I am unaware of any law in American history that prohibited or inhibited any American from the expression or practice of the Christian faith. Freedom of religion has never been in question.
Freedom from religion is very much under threat.
I am happily atheist, but I am not anti-religion. As the saying goes, some of my best friends are religious. But public monuments and public prayers are not neutral or innocent.
They are intended to remind me that it is not really my country.
Steve Nelson lives in Boulder, Colo., and Sharon. He can be reached at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.