‘We’re Thrilled’: Atheists Elated After Dem Senator’s Team Reveals He Has ‘No Plans of Attending’ National Prayer Breakfast By Billy Hallowell for Faith Wire
An atheist group is seemingly claiming victory after Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) purportedly announced he has “no intention of attending” the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event during which members of both sides of the political aisle gather for prayer and reflection.
“Sen. Kaine has not been to the National Prayer Breakfast since 2016 and has no intention of attending,” the congressman’s press secretary Ilse Zuniga reportedly told TYT.
Many atheists, secularists, and others see this moment as a win, with Kaine’s decision not to participate standing out, despite Zuniga not giving a definitive reason for the senator’s retreat.
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Kaine, who co-chaired the National Prayer Breakfast in 2016 and a candidate for vice-president that same year, follows other Democratic members of Congress in distancing himself from the annual gathering, according to Jonathan Larsen.
NEW: Senator Tom Kaine (D-VA) is dropping the National Prayer Breakfast.
Kaine was NPB co-chair in 2016.
But his office tells me that Kaine hasn’t gone since 2016 and has “no intention” of attending in February 2022.https://t.co/TuRFEpDk44
— Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) December 8, 2021
Atheist activists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist activist group based in Madison, Wisconsin, heralded the news and offered thanks to Kaine for not taking part in the “inappropriate event.”
“Government officials who attend the event in their official capacity send a message that their office endorses the religious message, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” read a statement from FFRF. “This alienates the 30 percent of Americans who are non-Christians, the one in four citizens who are not religious, and the 44 percent of millennials and younger Americans who are non-Christian.”
FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor is also quoted by TYT as saying the organization is elated to see Kaine not take part in the National Prayer Breakfast, and cited the organization’s stance on LGBTQ issues as one reason.
“We’re thrilled that Sen. Kaine has opted not to attend this pay-to-play political event that alienates nonreligious Americans, tramples the constitutional separation of state and church, and has a disturbing history of anti-LGBTQ bigotry,” she said. “The FFRF has long opposed the breakfast and had recently asked Kaine not to participate.”
As Faithwire previously reported, the FFRF and others have in recent months petitioned members of Congress — and President Joe Biden — to boycott and sit out of the annual prayer event.
In October, the FFRF reportedly reached out to every member of Congress who sponsored the 2021 event and urged them to abandon future plans. A subject line on at least one copy of the letter sent to members of Congress read, “Please stop sponsoring and attending the National Prayer Breakfast.”
