Non-believers for Obama

Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of political science and executive director of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College, has an interesting column about one of the most under-reported stories in the 2008 presidential race.

Non-religious Americans (up to 11 million) came out in large numbers for Barack Obama on Election Day, Kengor says.

"The vast majority of self-described non-religious voting Americans went for Obama," Kengor writes.

The liberal media has ignored the growing support of the Democratic Party among atheists, choosing to concentrate on the so-called "religious right," Kengor argues.

Kengor writes:

It is quite telling that liberal journalists are constantly wringing their hands over the evangelical vote, but could care less about the rise of an atheist vote. Whereas evangelicals scare them to death—and are highlighted as a dangerous force—atheists are of no concern whatsoever.

Non-believers have forged a potent voting bloc, probably unprecedented in American history. And while a lot of Republicans push to make the GOP an even bigger "tent," count me as one who prefers to cede this vote to the Democrats.

That's a huge advantage for the Democratic nominee, one that gets more powerful every four years.

What does all this mean?

The Democratic Party has found another core group it can rely on for future elections. In addition to labor unions and blacks, the left can now count on a growing constituency of non-believers to pull the Democratic Party lever regardless of who the candidate is on the ballot.

Kengor writes:

The contrast is clear when broken down among church attendance. Those who attend church services "once a week" voted for McCain by 55 to 43 percent, while those who attend "a few times a year" went for Obama 59 to 39 percent, and those who "never" go to church voted Obama 67 to 30 percent.

The numbers are consistent among denominations: John McCain actually won Catholics who attend Mass weekly (50 to 49 percent), but was trounced by Catholics who don't attend weekly (58 to 40 percent). McCain's largest margin was white evangelical/born-again Christians, which he swept 74 to 24 percent. Yet, even then, that margin was not as wide as those with no religious affiliation who went for Obama.

What's most significant is that this is nothing new. It is a recent trend gravitating to an increasingly secular Democratic Party.

Read Kengor's full column, "I'm Pagan and I Vote," at The Center for Vision & Values Web site.