A few people formed the “National Atheist Party” back in March and several state chapters have since formed… all on Facebook:

The National Atheist Party is a diverse, all inclusive, progressive, secular political movement and a response to the lack of representation for all free thinking people who are legal, law abiding citizens of the United States. We demand emancipation from the religious dogma that has infiltrated our government and has unfairly influenced political decisions and policy making. We are for the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and therefore incorporate the right to use the power OF the PEOPLE to restore equality to our Democracy using reasonable, rational and non-violent means. “POWER TO THE PEOPLE!” The National Atheist Party is open to people of all races, sexes and sexual orientations, and cultures. We are committed to a government free of superstition and bias and are guided by principles of equal opportunity, recognition of merit, and economic responsibility. The National Atheist Party does not seek to inhibit the religious practices or beliefs of any group, but is committed to the idea that religious preference is a private matter and has no place in the government or workplace. We support the separation of church and state, and seek to ensure its strictest interpretation.

First of all, rational people should know how to turn off the CAPS LOCK key…

And of all the acronyms you could’ve gone with, you chose that one?!

They are serious about this — they just need to raise enough money to register as a legit party. Truth be told, I think it’d be great if we could get atheists to vote in a bloc — maybe politicians would start to take us more seriously if we did — but we’re independent thinkers and it’s not like we would automatically listen to some random “party head” who told us how to vote.

It’s not fully fleshed out yet and it’s easy to spot some problems. Like in the Charter. Some of the party’s platform issues are very general, while others are hopelessly narrow because they’re so focused on what atheists want. Their Education platform, for example, is more concerned with proselytizing teachers than whether all kids have access to a good public school in the first place.

But if NAP is serious, I would like to know which candidates they would support in the next election when more than 99% of all major candidates for Congress or the Presidency say they believe in a god… and I’d like to know if they would support a religious candidate who supported them on most (or all) of the platform issues.

(Thanks to Nathan for the link!)

