Guest Blog: A Place at the Podium

Guest blog by Connie Barlow (my beloved wife and mission partner)

Just days before the U.S. national elections on November 4, one Republican incumbent (Senator Elizabeth Dole) endorsed a video ad that implied her Democratic rival (Kay Hagan) was an atheist - "godless," to be precise. The Associated Press reported:

"When Dole aired an ad questioning Hagan's credentials as a Christian, Hagan's response was quick and aggressive. She sued Dole, accusing her of libel and defamation, and went to the airwaves to defend her faith, telling voters she teaches Sunday school and serves as a church elder."

As an "out" atheist (I prefer the terms "evolutionary humanist" or "religious naturalist," both of which describe what I am, rather than what I am not), I longed for someone of stature in America to remind our nation that there is nothing intrinsically wrong or morally reprehensible about holding an atheist perspective. If a political candidate is, in fact, an atheist, so what?

Only weeks earlier, Colin Powell had made basically the same point in response to rumors that Barak Obama was Muslim. A transcript of Powell's remarks include:

A Story of Awakening (Teen Boys)

In October 2008, a Catholic Church in southern Wisconsin invited me to present my "Thank God for Evolution" illustrated slide talk. Middle school teachers at the associated Catholic school invited students to attend with their parents. Soon after, I received an email from one of the parents that totally made my day, Here is how my talk helped two teenage boys: