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Nontheism is a term that covers a range of both religious^[1] and nonreligious^[2] attitudes characterized by the absence or rejection of theism or any belief in a personal god or gods. Invented originally as a synonym for secularism (see below),^{[dubious – discuss]} it has become an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions united by a naturalist approach,^{[dubious – discuss]} such as agnosticism, skepticism, and atheism. It is in use in the fields of Christian apologetics and general liberal theology^{[disambiguation needed ]}. Sometimes used synonymously with the term atheism, it can also include positions of belief in a non-personal deity, such as deism and pantheism.

Nontheism can be expressed in a variety of ways. Strong or positive atheism is the positive belief that a god does not exist. Someone who does not think about the existence of a deity may be termed a weak or negative atheist, or more specifically implicitly atheist. Other, more qualified types of nontheism are often known as agnosticism: strong or positive agnosticism is the belief that it is impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist. It is a more precise opinion than weak or negative agnosticism, which is the belief that the existence or nonexistence of any deities is unknown but not necessarily unknowable. Philosopher Anthony Kenny distinguishes between agnostics, who find the claim "God exists" uncertain, and theological noncognitivists, who consider all discussion of God to be meaningless.^[3] Some agnostics, however, are not nontheists but rather agnostic theists.^[4]

Other related philosophical opinions about the existence of deity are ignosticism and skepticism. Because of the various meanings of the term "god", a person could be an atheist in terms of certain portrayals of gods, while remaining agnostic in terms of others.

Origin and definition[link]

The Oxford English Dictionary (2007) does not have an entry for nontheism or non-theism, but it does have an entry for non-theist, defined as "A person who is not a theist", and an entry for the adjectival non-theistic.^{[citation needed]}

An early usage of the hyphenated non-theism is by George Holyoake in 1852,^[5] who introduces it because:

Mr. [Charles] Southwell has taken an objection to the term Atheism. We are glad he has. We have disused it a long time [...]. We disuse it, because Atheist is a worn-out word. Both the ancients and the moderns have understood by it one without God, and also without morality. Thus the term connotes more than any well-informed and earnest person accepting it ever included in it; that is, the word carries with it associations of immorality, which have been repudiated by the Atheist as seriously as by the Christian. Non-theism is a term less open to the same misunderstanding, as it implies the simple non-acceptance of the Theist's explanation of the origin and government of the world.

This passage is cited by James Buchanan in his 1857 Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws, who however goes on to state:

"Non-theism" was afterwards exchanged [by Holyoake] for "Secularism", as a term less liable to misconstruction, and more correctly descriptive of the real import of the theory.^[6]

Spelling without hyphen sees scattered use in the later 20th century, following Harvey Cox's 1966 Secular City: "Thus the hidden God or deus absconditus of biblical theology may be mistaken for the no-god-at-all of nontheism."^[7] Usage increased in the 1990s in contexts where association with the terms atheism or antitheism was unwanted. The 1998 Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics states, "In the strict sense, all forms of nontheisms are naturalistic, including atheism, pantheism, deism, and agnosticism."^[8]

Pema Chödrön uses the term in the context of Buddhism:

The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God.[...] Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold [...] Non-theism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves [...] Nontheism is finally realizing there is no babysitter you can count on.^[9]

Nontheistic religions[link]

Nontheistic traditions of thought have played roles^[1] in Buddhism,^[10] Christianity,^[11][12] Hinduism,^[13] Jainism, Raelism^[14][15] Humanistic Judaism,^[16] Unitarian Universalism, ^{[17] [18]} and Ethical Culture, ^[19]

See also[link]

Apatheism Conceptions of God Deconstruction-and-religion Ethical Culture Falsifiability Freethought God in Jainism Jainism and non-creationism Language, Truth, and Logic

Atheism portal Mu (negative) Naturalistic pantheism Nontheist Friend Nondualism Secular humanism Transcendentalism Transtheistic

References[link]

External links[link]

• nontheism.org
• Nontheism

Pete Stark
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Norman Yoshio Mineta
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 9th district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Don Edwards
Succeeded by	Ron Dellums
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 8th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975
Preceded by	George Miller
Succeeded by	Ron Dellums
Personal details
Born	Fortney Hillman Stark, Jr. (1931-11-11) November 11, 1931 (age 80) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Deborah Roderick
Residence	Fremont, California
Alma mater	MIT (B.S.) University of California, Berkeley (M.B.A.)
Occupation	Banking Executive Politician
Committees	Ways & Means Committee
Religion	Previously Unitarian Universalist[1][2][3]; currently None (Atheist)[4][5]
Website	petestark.com
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Air Force
Years of service	1955-1957

Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark, Jr. (born November 11, 1931) is the U.S. Representative for California's 13th congressional district, serving since 1973. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Currently he is the 5th most senior Representative, as well as 6th most senior member of Congress overall. He is also the dean of California's 55-member Congressional delegation. His district lies in southwestern Alameda County and includes Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro and Fremont, as well as parts of Oakland and Pleasanton.^[6]

Early life, education, and banking career[link]

Stark was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953.^[7] He served in the United States Air Force from 1955 to 1957. After leaving the Air Force, Stark attended the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his MBA in 1960. Stark enjoyed living in the Bay Area so much that he decided to settle there after graduating.^{[citation needed]}

In 1963, Stark founded Security National Bank, a small bank in Walnut Creek. Within 10 years it grew to a $100 million company with branches across the East Bay.^{[citation needed]}

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

In 1972, Stark moved to Oakland to run in the Democratic primary against 14-term incumbent U.S. Representative George Paul Miller in what was then the 8th district. He won the Democratic primary with 56% of the vote, a 34-point margin.^[8] In the 1972 general election, he defeated Republican Lew Warden with 53% of the vote, the lowest winning percentage of his career. He has since been re-elected 18 times, and has only dropped below 60 percent of the vote twice (1980 and 1990). In 1980, he won with just 54%, and in 1990 he won with 58% of the vote. Due to redistricting, his district has changed numbers twice, from the 8th (1973–75) to the 9th (1975–93) to the 13th (since 1993).

He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 election^[9] and was re-elected in the general election with 76.3% of the vote.^[10]

Tenure[link]

Currently, Stark is the longest-serving member of Congress from California.

Fiscal policy

Stark voted against the bipartisan May 2008 farm subsidy bill, which was supported by most House Democrats and over half of House Republicans, in part because of its cost.^[11][12]

He also voted against both readings of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which gave $700 billion dollars to troubled investment banks.^[13][14] Stark argued that "the proposed bailout will only help reckless speculators who have been caught on the wrong side of the come line." Criticizing the bill as corporate welfare, he said "The bill before us today is basically the same three-page Wall Street give-away first put forth by President Bush" before the vote on the first bailout.^[15][16]

On September 25, 2008, Stark and Peter DeFazio signed a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposing a one quarter of one percent “transaction tax” on all trades in financial instruments including stocks, options, and futures. On September 29, 2008, Stark voted against HR 3997, the bailout bill backed by President Bush, House Speaker Pelosi and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and the bill subsequently failed to pass. Explaining his vote, Stark stated, "President Bush tells us that we face unparalleled financial doom if this $700 billion bailout is not approved today. He and his Treasury Secretary—a former Wall Street fat cat—tell us that we have reached the point of 'crisis.' That is a familiar line from this President. It sounds like the disastrous rush to war in Iraq and the subsequent stampede to enact the Patriot Act. As I opposed the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, I stand in opposition to his latest rush to judgment."^[17]

On October 3, 2008, Stark voted against HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. With this vote, Stark became the sole member of the House of Representatives from the San Francisco Bay Area to oppose the bill.^[18] Explaining his vote, Stark stated, "You're getting the same kind of misinformation now, the same kind of rush to judgment to tell you that a crisis will occur. It won't. Vote 'no.' Come back and help work on a bill that will help all Americans." ^[18]

Health care

Stark is known to have a longstanding interest in health care issues and was critical of the fate of the uninsured under the George W. Bush administration.^[19]

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Stark brought an action against President Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which cut Medicaid payments.^[20] The case, Conyers v. Bush, was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing in November of the same year.^[21]

Iraq War

Pete Stark speaks at a Town Hall meeting in January 2007 in San Leandro, CA.

Pete Stark was an early opponent of the Iraq War, speaking on the floor against the resolution authorizing military force against Iraq, on October 10, 2002. In part he said, "Well then, who will pay? School kids will pay. There'll be no money to keep them from being left behind—way behind. Seniors will pay. They'll pay big time as the Republicans privatize Social Security and rob the Trust Fund to pay for the capricious war. Medicare will be curtailed and drugs will be more unaffordable. And there won't be any money for a drug benefit because Bush will spend it all on the war. Working folks will pay through loss of job security and bargaining rights. Our grandchildren will pay through the degradation of our air and water quality. And the entire nation will pay as Bush continues to destroy civil rights, women's rights and religious freedom in a rush to phony patriotism and to courting the messianic Pharisees of the religious right."^[22]

In January 2003 Stark supported a reinstatement of the draft, partly in protest against the call to war but also saying, "If we're going to have these escapades, we should not do it on the backs of poor people and minorities."^[23] In October 2004, Stark was one of only two members of Congress to vote in favor of the Universal National Service Act of 2003 (HR 163), a bill proposing resumption of the military draft.^[24]

He has not voted for any bills to continue funding the Iraq war, but has voted 'present' for some. In a statement posted on his website he explained, "Despite my utmost respect for my colleagues who crafted this bill, I can't in good conscience vote to continue this war. Nor, however, can I vote 'No' and join those who think today's legislation goes too far toward withdrawal. That's why I'm making the difficult decision to vote 'present'."^[25] Stark was the only member of Congress to take this position.

Committee leadership

He has been a ranking member of the Banking and Currency Committee and is currently a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. He also served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia in the 103rd Congress.

When Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel stepped down in March 2010 over ethics charges, Stark was in line to assume the chairmanship since he was the next most senior Democrat on the committee. However Stark was only chairman for one day, as he was ousted by the younger Ways & Means members led by Chris Van Hollen, who saw Stark's history of intemperate remarks as a liability during an election year; Stark was replaced by Sander Levin who was the third-most senior member of Ways & Means.^[26]

Atheism

Stark is the first openly atheist member of Congress, as announced by the Secular Coalition for America.^[4] Stark acknowledged that he is an atheist in response to an SCA questionnaire sent to public officials in January 2007.

On September 20, 2007, Stark reaffirmed that he is an atheist by making a public announcement in front of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, the Harvard Law School Heathen Society, and various other atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, and nonreligious groups.^[5] The American Humanist Association named him their 2008 Humanist of the Year,^[27] and he now serves on the AHA Advisory Board.

On February 9, 2011, Stark introduced H. Res 81 to Congress designating February 12, 2011 as Darwin Day as a culmination of collaboration between Rep. Stark and the American Humanist Association. The resolution states, “Charles Darwin is a worthy symbol of scientific advancement… and around which to build a global celebration of science and humanity.”

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health^[28]
  • Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support

Caucuses

• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (Associate Member)
• International Conservation Caucus

Electoral history[link]