The Number of Faith
Rejecters is Rising in the United States
It can still be hard to come out as an atheist in the religious North Dakota
Pekka Mykkänen
HELSINGIN SANOMAT
FARGO. The year 1985 was just
about to turn into 1986. A father from Minnesota was making his daughter read
the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) all night and was saying that the world
would end on New Year’s Day.
“I sat there crying the whole
night. I was only nine-years-old,” 32-year-old Lilie Schoenack relates.
In the world of her
childhood, a good person was synonymous to a good Christian. Every day, she was
being threatened by Hell, and at home she had to watch scary videos about the
prophecies of Nostradamus. The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and marijuana had all
turned into one apocalyptic mess in her father's head.
Today, Schoenack
and her 38-years-old husband Jason, who was also raised in a religious family,
are atheists. The couple living in Fargo, the biggest city in North Dakota,
wants to protect their own children from religious brain-washing and they are
both active members of an organization called the Red River Free Thinkers, or
RRF.
The Schoenacks are part of a
phenomenon that has developed quietly: the number atheists and other non-church
member Americans has almost doubled since 1990 and is now c. 15 per cent of the
population.
Conversely, a survey made by Trinity College in Connecticut shows that amount of
Christians has gone down from 86 per cent to 76 per cent.
It is said
that atheists are now able to breathe more freely, the amount of organizations
for those not any religion is increasing in school campuses and elsewhere. For
example, the Secularized Students Association says that they have increased the
number of divisions from 42 to 150 in couple of years.
People are also able to take religion more lightly than before. An example of
this is the pastafaris, who follow the teachings of the “Church of the
Flying Spaghetti Monster”.
The free thinkers in Fargo
show that there is a wind of change, but so far it has been blowing quietly in
the 600 000 strong state of North Dakota. The state has highest ratio of
churches per person as well as non-religionists - atheists, agnostics and
skeptics mostly still keep quiet when it comes to their personal views.
36-year-old Carol Sawicki tells that, for an American, coming out with these
ideas is as hard as telling your parents about being gay or telling your
work-mates about having a mental disorder.
“It’s just
like before, when people were ashamed to say that they had cancer. They were
afraid it was contagious.”
Sawacki and her 65-year-old
husband Charles had never taken part in any religion. They say that they started
being active in religious matters when George W. Bush got into power and there
was fear that fundamentalist Christian would soon have an increased influence in
politics.
The gulf between American
Christians and American Atheists is deep, but the country also has a tradition
of tolerating – and accepting- differences. 95-year-old Kathrine Rogne, a
founding member of RRF, says that she has not faced any problems during her
whole life-time as result of her agnostic world-view.
“I live in
an area influenced by Norwegian Lutheranism and there people are very tolerant,
at least they appear politely tolerant."
Another founding member RRF,
a 59-year-old Professor of Mathematics, Davis Cope, runs seminars at the
University of North Dakota entitled: “Science, Religion and Lunch” and
purposefully invites provocative lecturers.
“If the seminars
haven't gotten on your nerves yet, it means you haven't come often enough," the
advertisement texts for the events say
Disputes Over Monument Continue
FARGO. The free thinkers in
Fargo have fought for years with city council and with citizens regarding a
7-foot monument in front of the City Hall, with the Ten Commandments carved into
it.
After losing the battle to have the monument removed, the Free Thinkers tried to
get permission to build their own monument next to it, which would underline the
distinction between church and state. The undertaking was headed by the Chairman
of the Free Thinkers and ex-Mayor of Fargo, Jon Lindgren.
Lingren believes that after years of struggling, the attempts to have a permit
to set up their own monument have failed, but the fight to have the Ten
Commandments monument removed continues.
“It was
left there because of pressure from the religious communities,” Lindgren tells
at the RFF organization’s Midsummer party on Sunday.
According the supporters of
the monument, it is just a harmless reference to the cultural heritage typical
to the area. In 2005, the Unites States High Court gave two contradicting
decisions regarding Ten Commandment monuments in public places:
In the House of Congress in
Texas, such a monument was permitted, whereas in the Court House in Kentucky,
such had to be removed.
The decision has not
only divided the United States High Court, but also every-day Americans.
Pekka Mykkänen
Picture 1 (a map showing the
location of North Dakota)
Picture 2 (a picture of Lilie
Schoenack, with her name written underneath)
Picture 3 (a picture of the
Ten Commandment monument)
Text under picture 3:
The disputed monument remains
outside the Town Hall of Fargo