Our freedom includes theirs – not believing

Sometimes the radio talk show guys didn’t even call Michael Newdow by name. They called him that atheist. And they said it with a sneer. Newdow is the California father who sued because he felt it unconstitutional that his daughter had to express a belief in God while saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Two years ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Newdow. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that “under God” will remain in the pledge — for now.

The sneering about Newdow would have escaped me a year ago. But then I met John Hill. When our editorials mention Scripture or theology, Hill often challenges the information from a nonbeliever’s point of view. I found his e-mails terse and angry. One day I e-mailed him and said I wouldn’t read anything more of his until we sat down in person together. I couldn’t understand his seeming anger toward people he had never met. And so a month ago, Hill and I chatted for more than an hour in my office.

Hill was the opposite of his e-mail persona. He was soft-spoken, a great listener and an interesting thinker. Hill, 52, has a degree in philosophy from the University of Washington and works as a social services program manager. We know several people in common in the Kettle Falls area, where Hill lives. I explained where I was coming from as a person with a faith tradition, and he explained where he was coming from as a secular humanist. Hill invited me to an upcoming Inland Northwest Freethought Society meeting. I accepted.

The meeting was held on a recent Sunday at Arbor Crest Winery, a beautiful place on a hill overlooking the Spokane Valley. God has a great sense of humor, if you believe in God, because I drove to the meeting right after helping out at Sunday school at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in north Spokane.

I was welcomed warmly by the 20 Freethought members in attendance. While we sipped wine and ate cheese together, they gave me a crash course in secular humanism. Basically, it’s the belief that humans alone are responsible for their actions and for their destinies. They asked: “Have you ever noticed that whenever God talks to people he always says what people want to hear?” Humanism is “a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art and motivated by compassion,” according to Humanist magazine.

Secular humanists make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, and like other minority groups, they often feel marginalized. “No atheist would ever be elected president,” they pointed out. One of their heroes is Julia Sweeney, a former Spokane Catholic girl who is now a well-known actor. She recently came out as a secular humanist. Some of the Freethought folks will travel to Seattle July 9 to a Freedom From Religion Foundation convention where Sweeney will preview her one-woman show “Letting Go of God.”

I also met Ross Woodward that day at Arbor Crest. In the 1960s, he was the voice of KJRB, the area’s most popular radio station. He’s the co-founder of another atheist group, the Humanist Focus Group. Later, Woodward told me: “We’re not against believers. Our big thing is the separation of church and state. We don’t want private beliefs to get in the public arena. I’ve got friends and relatives who are Mormons. I respect and love them. We just want the religious thing to be private.”

They didn’t convert me, nor did they try, but the Freethought meeting opened my mind to see stories from their point of view, too. I now understand that Michael Newdow isn’t just that atheist trying to stir up controversy. He’s a man with a deep-seated belief that “under God” doesn’t belong in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Supreme Court ruled that Newdow didn’t have standing to bring the lawsuit because he doesn’t have custody of his daughter. Of the court’s action Monday, Woodward said: “We missed this time, but someone else will take up the case and fly with it. Eventually, it will be eliminated.”

Magnificent clouds floated above us in the blue sky that Sunday. Clouds that looked as if they belonged in a movie version of heaven, if you believe in heaven. I floated out of the meeting in awe of living in a country where freedom of religion means the choice to be free of religion entirely. You can believe in the value of Sunday school. Or you can believe it is propaganda. And no one will arrest you for either belief. This is amazing — under God or otherwise.

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