Name highest-ranking elected nontheist, win $1000

The Secular Coalition for America is offering a $1,000 reward to the person who can identify the highest-ranking, elected nonbeliever serving in the U.S. government.

“We’re here to show that nontheists are good citizens and good patriots,” says Lori Lipman Brown, director of the group.

The coalition believes that though the Constitution prohibits a “religious test” for holding public office, atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheists are “invisible in the electoral arena.”

“Ask most people if they would vote for an atheist and the immediate response would be a firm ‘No!,’ and they would not consider their response to be bigoted,” Brown says.

“Anyone would think it’s bigoted if we said we wouldn’t vote for somebody simply because he or she is a Christian, Muslim or Jew, but very proudly they’ll say, ‘I would never vote for an atheist.’ “

The rules and entry form for the “Find an Atheist, Humanist, Freethinker Elected Official” contest can be found at www.secular.org/contest.

Entries must contain the name of the elected official and the office held, and the contestant’s name, address and contact information. A letter will be requested from the public official acknowledging that he or she is a nonbeliever.

The deadline is Dec. 31. The winner will be announced in January.