Recently, a friend was asked, “What church do you go to?” to which he replied he was an atheist. I heard his response and was left contemplating what does that mean today and in this historical moment? What did his declaration have to do with what we were doing on Saturday mornings on a street in Washington, D.C., educating and asking people to join the economic boycott against the Target corporation?
Target was one of the first companies to announce a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative after the police murder of George Floyd. Target, being a Minneapolis-based corporation, evidently felt it had a special responsibility to lead the country in terms of addressing racial injustice. This was until Donald Trump came to office. Target was one of the first companies to bend its knee at the altar of the wannabe emperor, Donald Trump.
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Trump’s attacks and demands on corporations and other entities to jettison DEI programs served as a litmus test of loyalty and patriotism. Nearly all of the other companies followed suit, prostrating themselves before the gods of greed and political accommodation.
This is how dictatorial regimes work. They invent ways to distinguish the “believers” from the “nonbelievers,” from the trusted versus those who cannot be trusted.
Therefore, when my friend asserted boldly, proudly, and loudly that he was an atheist, I was left to make a historical connection with what that meant in this heated political moment, and also what did that mean to me, a church person most of my life?
“I am an atheist,” he asserted, and that caused me to wonder what does that have to do with us boycotting Target these many months, and whether there was a historical correlation between what he was declaring and what we were doing?
The Original Atheists
After some time, I turned to my friend, reflecting upon the history of the term atheist, and I shared that the term atheist was used in the first century CE to label and castigate those who would not participate in emperor worship or the trappings of all of the other Roman gods and goddesses. An atheist was a person who did not worship Caesar. The Caesars were generally deified, and the worship of Caesar — and all of the Roman array of deities — served as a test of loyalty. Those who fell into line and worshipped Caesar were loyal and patriotic, and those who resisted the test were seen as a threat.
Early Christians were generally labelled atheists because they refused to worship the things of Caesar, and they generally resisted the Roman social order. It is rumored that John who wrote the letter Revelation, not the John of the gospel, was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for his refusal to “Hail Caesar” or worship all of the other trappings of the Roman order.
A Modern Rebellion Against Empire
I reminded my friend that he was standing in a time and place where his declaration, “I am an atheist,” could mean something more than the fact that he did not believe in God. Without him even knowing, he was declaring the same sentiments stated in the first century that separated the believers from the nonbelievers. The nonbelievers refused to accept the false gods, deities of human making, and the trapping of those gods for the sake of money, position, and power.
Given those historical facts, it made sense as to why we were on the street in front of a Target store, boycotting the business and urging others to do the same. We were doing historically what the atheists of the first century did — challenge the acquiescence to power and governments, and the business entities and people that have surrendered their dignity to satisfy the gluttonous appetite of a king. We have been demanding that Target and other corporations stop genuflecting at the throne of Caesar.
We need seasoned and committed political atheists who will demand that we not be seduced into the courtyards of this king or any new king.
So, I was ecstatic over the “No Kings” rallies and marches held across the country. I could smell an aroma of political atheism in the crowds. The marches declared that in America, there are “No Kings”, no Caesars, and no emperors. The marches confronted King Trump with the fact that people were not bowing or honoring the trappings of this Caesar-King. The marches across the country and in some cities overseas was a statement that, for this moment, some people were not bowing before this king.
But even with the celebrations of the number of people and cities responding to the “No Kings” sentiment, there were fears and perils that became apparent, at least for me. I began to worry about what would happen after the marches were over. What would happen after this administration is driven out and its power has faded? Will people bow before a new king — one of their liking?
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This is why we need seasoned and committed political atheists who will demand that we not be seduced into the courtyards of this king or any new king. Democracy is fragile, and people can easily be fooled by the charms of charlatans. We need political atheists, with their cynicism, to shock us by reminding us not to be seduced in any way or any season by any king. Without honest critique and cynicism from nonbelievers — not seduced by the Democratic-Republican beauty contest or the quixotic notions of an independent candidate — we will find ourselves in this predicament again.
We need our political atheists who will sound the alarm of the dangers of a king lest we become beguiled and seduced again by the flash and form of a new snake-oil dealer. We will have to march and march, demonstrate and demonstrate to hold on to our country. The demagogues and charlatans, like the people currently in the White House and Administration, as well as the would-be kings of our liking, know how easily the country can be hijacked.
The average American citizen is a cultural believer, worshipping the myths of goodness and benevolence, believing that it will do the right thing if the right king is at the helm. And, after the right person gets in, we can go back home and allow the “good” king to do the good things for us. We generally have placed our trust in the goodness of the American structures, but glaring before us are the realities that Congress and the Supreme Court as our protectors may not be the case. We have seen just how Congress and the Supreme Court can also prostrate themselves at the altar of political expediency.
Refuse to Bow
The political atheists, however, call us to be cynical, remain alert, remain in the streets, protest even when so-called “Good Kings” fill the so-called “Good Structures” of democracy, and to march on the king even when we like the king, but never again to prostrate ourselves before the throne of political satisfaction. To win the country back is a good thing, but to keep it is difficult, and so we need the sentiment of political atheists who refuse to bow and demand that we refuse also.
My friend caused me to appreciate the atheism that does not believe in doubts, that questions, and does not fall into line. That is an important political posture to have at all times. The Christians of the First Century were called atheists and were considered subversives because they did not salute the emperor or the emperor’s men, but pushed towards a higher order, and so must we. But this is our calling not only today as we challenge and resist emperor Trump, but in all political seasons, and with all people aspiring to be king.
Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler is the senior advisor for the Fellowship of Reconciliation–USA, director and chief visionary of Faith Strategies LLC, and pastor emeritus of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C.
A longtime faith leader, activist, and strategist, Hagler is known for his work at the intersection of social justice, public policy, and moral leadership, advancing movements for peace, equity, and economic fairness across the United States and abroad.