This post was written by Allie T Jones on Queereka.
Last week, American Atheists’ Jamila Bey spoke at the yearly meeting of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee. To give you some idea of CPAC’s tenor, this year’s highlights include:
- Phil Robertson, patriarch of Duck Dynasty, said that “I believe Jesus came down from Heaven in flesh 2000 and 15-years ago. I believe he paid for all of my rotten sins, and I have a lot. But I’m not the only one. Every one of you seated in this audience has sinned…a lot.”
- During a panel discussion, conservative talk show host Dana Loesch declared, “You don’t have to be a Christians to be affected by loss of religious liberty, because if one liberty is taken, more liberties will be taken,” she said. “If I’m not speaking up [while] you’re losing rights then what will happen to me when the day comes, if someone comes to me? What if you’re stoned for walking out in the street for being gay? I mean, come on, that’s where the conversation needs to go…”
- And, more relevant to my purposes, Governor Scott Walker quipped, “You see, here in America there’s a reason why we celebrate the 4th of July and not April 15th because in America we celebrate our independence from the government, not our dependence on it.”
Bey spoke last week, saying in part:
Today I stand before you not just as a fellow conservative, I stand before you as a member of a growing Republican family that has inherited a new generation of potential leaders with millions of voters that we cannot afford to ignore. The law is: change or die. And to grow with our changing family, we must embrace this future to maintain our value systems, and, as Donald Rumsfeld put it best, we’ve gotta prepare for the unknown.
Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with American Atheists. More recently, I’ve become a very proud board member of this organization. And, through this course, I’ve seen many of our youth, many of our peers, who, while different in worldview, strongly uphold the values of our conservative family. These people are an essential component of our growing electorate. We ignore them to our peril.
Later, she clarified on her blog, “I’m a conservative on issues of economics, immigration, and a few others. I’m socially liberal and I often agree with voices who exist on either/both sides of the political spectrum.”
People often say this, but is it possible?
To continue reading and to comment, please head over to Queereka!
