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One very interesting question was asked by an audience member during a rally in Iowa City where Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, addressed an audience. She was asked about her plan for protecting the rights of atheists and other non-believers and her answer was rather roundabout. She didn’t give a precise answer to the question but she talked about the importance of religious freedom including non-believers. Warren introduced herself as a person of faith and, as Patheos reports, she pointed out that there should not be discrimination against anybody based on what faith they belong to, even if they choose not to have any at all:
“You know, the way I see this is, I am a person of faith. I grew up in the Methodist church. It’s part of who I am. I was a Sunday School teacher. But I see it as a fundamental question about what it means to be an American. And I think what it means to be an American is that, at core, we recognize the worth of every single human being. That’s part one. And part two, we’re called to act on that. That we are responsible for our actions consistent with that. That we don’t take advantage of people, we don’t cheat people, we don’t hurt other people. And we do what we can to support other people, and to build opportunity for other people. If those are the core values, right down at the heart, that make us Americans, I think that leaves us all the room in the world for worshiping differently or for not worshiping at all. And that’s the kind of America I want us to be.”
Warren was an underdog candidate last year with unfavorable poll results but nowadays she is one of the top Democratic candidates together with Joe Biden. According to New York Daily News, at this stage in 2016, few took Trump’s candidacy as seriously as many take Warren’s, despite his polling. Then, there were 15 Republican candidates still in that race, as there are 18 Democratic candidates still in this one. This may be the reason why the answer she gave to above mentioned question was typically politician-speak. She was probably trying to maintain her position without ruffling any feathers and by trying to balance between non-believers and religious people.
It seems that Elizabeth Warren could play an important role in the presidential race so it is interesting to know about her plans; like her plan for protecting the rights of Atheists or if she is considering hiring a Secular Outreach Director. She was specifically asked this question in October. She was probably not thinking about that before being asked but she later answered that she will think about it. The answers she gave to both questions were not controversial or specific. But the most important thing was there were questions which started a debate or conversation — and it made people think about those topics.
