Atheist challenges C-Street Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC) in Democratic Primary

[Ian David]

Atheist challenges C-Street Congressman in Democratic Primary

Atheist city councilman Cecil Bothwell, has recently declared his intention to run for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional district against fellow Democrat Joseph Heath Shuler.

The 11th district is an even mix of both Democrats and Republicans. The city of Asheville generally votes strongly Democrat while the suburbs of the city tend more toward social conservative values. The rest of the district seems to be equally split between Democrats and Republicans.

Congressman Heath Shuler, is a three term “blue dog” Democrat who recently lost 3 to1 in his bid against Nancy Pelosi for the Minority Whip position in the House of Representatives. Shuler is also a member of “The Family,” an extreme fundamentalist religious group of politicians and business leaders who value power above all else. The group owns and runs a house on C-Street in Washington DC in which they provide a room for political leaders in exchange for Bible Studies, group prayers, and political favors to advance their ideology. To learn more about The Family, check out the books, “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” and “C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy” both by Jeff Sharlet.

More:
http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-national/atheist-challenges-c-street-congressman-democratic-primary


See also:

Capitol Hill "C Street house" connected to "kill the gays" Evangelicals in Uganda
http://www.metroweekly.com/news/last_word/2010/09/exposed-capitol-hill-c-street.html


Uganda “Kill the Gays” Bill Could Become Law in Next 48 Hours

Allout.org has issued an urgent plea: Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill could pass a bill within the next 48 hours that would make homosexuality punishable by death. All Out says it’s all a part of a pattern by the Ugandan government of suppressing democracy. All Out is urging supporters of human rights to sign this petition which will be sent to Ugandan President Museveni. http://www.allout.org/en/petition/uganda

Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, described and explained the law in an interview on Fresh Air:

<snip>

Currently elected Family members include: Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Sen Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Penn, Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C. and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.

More:
http://ashtonelijah.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/uganda-kill-the-gays-bill-could-become-law-in-next-48-hours/

[xchrom]

1. cool. nt

[fascisthunter]

2. every Family member in the democratic party needs to go

actually, every member should be considered a traitor to America.

[immoderate]

3. These guys could be the villains in an Indiana Jones movie...

Combine hunger for power with irrational superstition and Dominionism, and you get :scared:

--imm

[defendandprotect]

4. k

[ceile]

5. cool.

And that's my screen saver- always get a chuckle from it.

[brooklynite]

6. Where this campaign goes wrong...

I'm sorry, but I can't get behind Cecil's effort, for the following reasons:

First, he is running for Congress as an Atheist. His webpage has a tab entitled "Faith", under which he describes his lack of any. Setting aside the political merits of running as an overt Atheist in a district conservative enough to elect Heath Shuler, I would argue that our ideal should be to elect people irrespective of their religious philosophy, not because of it.

Second, he is running in part on his notoriety as an Atheist elected to the Asheville City Council, who then had to deal with the bigotry of christian Conservatives attempting to thwart the public's decision by challenging his legality to hold the Council Seat based on the outdated standards of the North Carolina Constitution. The election was only two years ago. He would do far better service to the Atheist cause,if that is his goal, by spending more than two years on the Council job, showing that Atheists are as responsible and moral as anyone else, and then running for Congress (or any other position he chooses), based on his service and accomplishments.

We have a tough job next year, holding on to our bare majority in the Senate, and trying to find 25 House seats to win back. This seat, with this candidate, isn't one of them.

[Luminous Animal]

8. The words atheist and atheism are not capitalized.

[Ramulux]

7. We need to make this guy a progressive hero

and give him all the support he needs. Heath Shuler is without a doubt the worst democrat in congress, no one else even comes close. We needs to contact liberal media outlets and personalities and do everything to get them to give this guy media attention.

I dont think there is anything I would like to see more in 2012 than this piece of shit going down.

[G_j]

9. I know Cecil, have worked with him

he is very progressive, smart and hard working. It's cool the he is an Atheist, but it's not the most important aspect of what would make him a great Congressman.