Read a 2006 interview in which former House speaker Newt Gingrich said that “evolution should be taught as science, and intelligent design should be taught as philosophy.”

Read a May 17, 2011, article published by CBS Minnesota about then-GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s views on evolution. Gingrich said in May 2011 that he sees no conflict between faith and science with regard to life’s origins.

Read a Nov. 8. 2012, article from Religion News Service, posted by the Huffington Post, about gay marriage in the 2012 elections. Voters in Maine, Maryland, and Washington state voted in favor of measures legalizing gay marriage. The 2012 election brought the total number of states what allow same-sex marriage to nine.

Cecil Bothwell is a City Council member in Asheville, N.C. Shortly after his election in 2009, some opponents sought to oust him from office because he does not believe in God. Bothwell, a journalist and author, blogs and speaks frequently about matters of faith. His books include The Prince of War: Billy Graham’s Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire (2008) and Whale Falls: […]

Paul Fidalgo is communications manager at the Secular Coalition for America, a policy advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. He has a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University and wrote his thesis on atheists’ precarious place in U.S. politics.

Sean Faircloth has served as an executive with both the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and The Secular Coalition for America, the leading policy advocacy group for secular Americans. Before that, he served 10 years in the Maine Legislature, including a term as majority whip. Faircloth, who lives near Washington, D.C., can discuss […]

Enlighten the Vote is a nonpartisan political action committee working to elect atheists. Ellen Johnson is executive director. Contact through the website.

About.com cites a number of polls on Americans’ attitudes toward atheists.

What may houses of worship do to advance political causes or candidates? By Ira Rifkin Freelance Writer The Church at Pierce Creek was a non-denominational, conservative Protestant congregation outside Binghamton, N.Y., until the Internal Revenue Service revoked its tax-exempt status for sponsoring a 1992 newspaper ad attacking then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s stands on abortion and […]