August 3, 2014 8:11 AM

Memo to S.E. Cupp: If you don't believe in God, how can you be mad at Her?

CNN’s S.E. Cupp has never been shy about her atheism, even if it does make her stand out in the conservative media world. But in a new online video for Crossfire the pundit makes the claim that conservative atheists are actually “better” than liberal ones, and she uses Bill Maher as her prime example…. “I don’t believe in God, but I’m not mad at him,” Cupp says at the top of the video, immediately contradicting herself. She explains that she became an atheist because she’s not a “joiner” and didn’t want to be part of a “club or group.”…. While conservatives “tolerate” and “respect” both atheists and religious people, Cupp says liberals embrace a “militant hostility” towards religion. Which brings her to Bill Maher…. “Bill Maher thinks 95% of the world has a neurological disorder,” she says. “I don’t think you’d find that on the right. For that reason — I’ll say it — I think our atheists are better than yours.”

“I think our atheists are better than yours.”

Really? Atheism isn’t a contest; none of us are competing to determine whose lack of belief in an Imaginary Friend is the purest. S.E. Cupp seems to be the only one bent on turning it into a Liberal vs. Conservative thing…and holding Conservatives up as some sort of “champion atheists.” What’s so ridiculous about that is that as a rule, Conservatives despise and distrust atheists…and would be quite happy to disenfranchise and marginalize those of us who don’t believe in God.

I’m disappointed that Cupp would see fit to turn a personal philosophical/religious belief into a competition, yet another way for her to bash Liberals, which is the one thing she seems to do well. She has little to offer beside the usual “Liberals bad” argument, is somewhat incongruent, given that Conservatives normally belittle Liberals for being “godless atheists.” She says, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m not mad at him,” but it seems senseless that she talks about being mad (or not) at something she doesn’t believe in. If she doesn’t believe in God (which is the simplest definition of atheism), I’m not certain what she’d be referring to…and it sounds as if she does either, because for her it’s all about making Liberals look bad. It’s not about her religious beliefs- or lack of same- nearly as much as it is about portraying Conservatives as smarter, more realistic, more capable, and most certainly better at “not believing in God.” It’s like trying to disprove a negative; how can you prove you believe in something less than your ideological adversaries? Like so many Conservatives, Cupp seems to justify her Conservatism through seeking out ways to belittle Liberals…as if that demonstrates the superiority of her ideology.

In truth, this is just another opportunity for her to bash Bill Maher, the bogeyman good Conservatives despise. She seems to recognize there’s no way to win an argue with Maher when it comes to atheism (or religion in general), so she’s decided to turn atheism into a competition. In her mind, Conservatives emerge victorious…because the rules of the game are known only to her.

What Cupp conveniently ignores is that modern Conservatism is anything but friendly to atheism. All one needs do is take notice of the number of red states with laws preventing atheists from holding public office (in direct contravention to the Constitution they purport to revere) to understand that Conservatives claim God as their own. As far as most of them are concerned, God’s a Republican and Cupp is an outlier. They tolerate her because she supports their cause, but her atheism makes her something of a quisling.

In the end, it’s not about which side’s belief in God (or lack of same) is more pure. What the Right fails to understand is that America isn’t a Christian nation; it’s a secular government representing a majority Christian population. The Constitution prohibits religious litmus tests, but in typical fashion, Conservatives manage to ignore the parts of the Constitution they find inconvenient. Most are comfortable with one man/one vote only insofar as it results in Conservatives being elected; beyond that they’d be happy with an authoritarian government which dictated from the top down instead of the bottom up…which is what the Constitution they pretend to love provides for.

It’s unfortunate that someone as ostensibly intelligent as Cupp can hold to such a brain-dead ideology…particularly when you factor in that many Conservatives believe atheists to be something less than full partners in the American experience. As happens so frequently with modern Conservatism, it’s not about finding ways to move America forward. It’s about crushing Liberals in order that they might demonstrate their self-ascribed moral superiority. It’s why Conservatives make a hash of things when they’re in the majority; they simply don’t know how to do the right thing when it comes to governing…and that goes a long way toward explaining why America is a mess.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 3, 2014 8:11 AM.

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