Welcome to Enlighten The Vote
...the place to find "reason"able
politicians.
 Together
We Can Be Heard!
Enlighten The Vote is a non-partisan political action
committee working to get Atheists elected to office.
We endorse and donate to Atheist candidates but we
will also support secularists who agree with us on
our issues and the civil rights of Atheists.
We are dedicated
to what is commonly referred to as "state-church separation"
issues, specifically those concerned with the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment which states that "Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
We oppose all
governmental programs, violations and special rights
for religious individuals, groups and organizations.
These include private school vouchers, organized prayers
in public venues, the faith-based initiatives and
laws exempting the religious from abiding by federal
and state civil rights, health and safety laws.
Non-religious
Americans are a sizeable voting bloc in America and
together we can make our voting strength work for
us at the polls by electing politicians who support
the First Amendment and the Enlightenment values of
science, critical thinking and reason.
A few years ago I attended a fundraiser for Senator
Patrick Leahy. EnlightenTheVote.com was then called
the GAMPAC and Peter Nuhn and I took our GAMPAC
donation check to the Washington DC event. I spoke
briefly with the Senator, and we took a photo and
then Peter and I left.
A week later our donation check was returned to
us. That was a shock to me. I didn't think that
would ever happen to us, but it did. The senator
didn't want people knowing about our donation, and
that an Atheist pac was supporting him.
Are we really that poisonous to politicians? Are
we really that powerful, even if in a negative way?
What should we do if a politician asks us NOT to
endorse him/her at our site? Can we be an effective
political action committee if those politicians
who we want to support, don't want it?
In 2002, we launched our pac with a press conference
at the National Press Club in Washington DC, and
a reporter asked me what we would do if a politician
did not want our endorsement? I told the reporter
that if the politician didn't want our endorsement
then the politician would not get our votes or money.
If we cannot endorse a candidate then we cannot
drive votes and money their way.
It's not that some politicians don't want our
support - it's more that they don't want the backlash
from the religious. The religious are a better-organized
and better-funded political machine than we are
and that is what most politicians respond to. If
we were better organized than the religious then
politicians would be actively pursuing our support.
If we put a lot of money behind the candidates who
we support, and if we work to elect them, then we
will become the voting bloc that candidates will
listen to.
So back to my original question. To support or
not to support - that is the question. The answer
is that we should support as long as we can make
it beneficial to candidates and we can do that if
you vote for the candidates we endorse and if you
contribute to EnlightenTheVote.com. Our endorsement
should benefit candidates. When you contribute to
Enlightenthevote.com we donate to candidates' campaigns
and they know that enlightened Americans are organized
to support them.
It is also important to donate your time to work
on the campaigns of these candidates. This is what
the religious do. In fact, there isn't anything
the religious won't do to get their candidates elected
to office.
Without your donations to Enlightenthevote.com
and your work for the campaigns we support, some
politicians may continue to be wary of our endorsement.
Atheists and other secular Americans are going
political and we are going to be successful.
We are gearing up for the 2010 elections now. With
your support we will elect politicians who support
the separation of state and church and the noble
words of the Establishment Clause, "Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishement of religion."
Please donate to Enlightenthevote.com today. Please
tell your friends about EV and help by spreading
the word. Let's not regret another election year.
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