Thoughts from a College Graduation about the Rights of Non-Believers

As an academic institution, Oberlin College in Ohio (not far from Cleveland) is probably not a typical undergraduate school.  Well-regarded academically, it has a history of iconoclasm and non-conformity.  Its students are drawn to the school in part because of the freedom of thought and expression that the culture of the place seems to honor.

Thus, on attending my niece’s graduation there last week, I was not at all shocked to see no small number of the graduates accepting their degrees in casual attire (as opposed to wearing the traditional cap and gown), nor to see some donning construction workers’ hard hats (instead of the academic cap and tassel) in apparent protest of something or maybe just to be different.  I wasn’t even surprised when the first speaker, in asking everyone to rise for the national anthem, suggested that those “for whom it is your custom” remove their caps.

What did catch my attention, however, was the opening phrase delivered by Reverend Gregory W. McGonigle, the school’s Director of Religious and Spiritual Life, in his invocation.  Instead of the traditional, “Heavenly Father,” or “Dear Lord,” or even something more academic, like, maybe, “Supreme Master of the Universe,” the good reverend began with this phrase: “Sweet Mystery,” intending thereby to refer to God as such.

And what followed in the balance of the invocation was far less a prayer than a mini-commencement address.  Indeed, there was no mention of the Almighty, even by way of the very loose, intentionally inoffensive reference common to non-denominational prayers.  Instead, the minister spoke/prayed about the fine education the graduates had received and the wonderful lives they now all would be able to live.  There also wasn’t any reference to God, in any form of appellation, in the reverend’s closing words.  He just said “Amen,” which can mean “so be it,” and thus isn’t a reference to a spiritual being, either.

So, in the end, I judged the invocation at the Oberlin graduation to be a secular statement that reflected, indeed, maybe even honored, the rights of the non-believers in the crowd.  “Sweet Mystery” as a way to speak of something akin to God is about as close as I think one can come to declaring, “This is a prayer that acknowledges the ‘unknowableness’ of a creative force in the universe.”   It might not entirely meet the needs of the atheists in the audience, but it certainly did not offend my agnosticism.

In any event, the experience of hearing this version of a prayer led me to consider a different experience I had earlier this summer, when I attended a ballgame at Dodger Stadium.

At the point in the game when the traditional seventh inning stretch takes place, before playing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the organist accompanied a guest singer in a rendition of “God Bless America.”  Before the song began, the PA announcer invited everyone to stand for the singing of the song.  I shrugged and stood, watching, as I did, the many in the audience who even removed their caps!

Now I consider myself as patriotic as the next person, and I stand dutifully for the playing of the National Anthem whenever I’m at an event where it is played.  But “God Bless America,” other than being a tough song to sing for all but the best crooners, is an affront to my agnostic sensibilities, and having it intrude on my enjoyment of my favorite sport and displace one of my favorite songs (the one I use as a ringtone, by the way) bothers me big time.

Depending on which survey you choose to believe, as many as a third of Americans may be non-believers when it comes to traditional views of God.  That figure is probably high, but a 2008 Gallup survey found that 34% of Americans willingly stated that religion was not an important part of their daily lives.  Of course, many of that group would probably answer affirmatively if asked specifically if they “believed in God,” but a recent Pew Research Center poll had 6% of respondents declaring themselves as either atheists or agnostics, with another 20% stating they had no religious affiliation.

My point is that there is a sizeable percentage of Americans who just don’t believe in a traditional God (the kind that can “bless” America).  And many of them, like me, may well be offended by the many ways that references to that God are projected into our culture.

Gay Americans have made great strides, especially in the last few years, in gaining recognition of their right to be respected and treated as equals with all other Americans.  I applaud and fully support that movement and the progress in human rights that has been made for that segment of the country’s populace.  But what percentage of the country’s population is gay?  The most commonly cited studies suggest no more than 3 to 5 percent, but even that estimate may be high.  Gary Gates of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy estimates that gay Americans constitute only 1.8 percent of the population.  Whatever the actual numbers, it certainly wouldn’t be inconceivable that there are more non-believers in the country than there are gay Americans.

And so, the Oberlin commencement invocation got me to thinking about my experience at the ballgame.  Is irreligious freedom the next cause for the human rights movement?  Religious freedom, of course, is well established in our Constitution.  But what about the rights of those of us who don’t want the freedom to worship, but instead want the freedom not to worship?  And isn’t it a form of worship to ask God, in a public setting, to bless America?

I’m not asking for a law denying the right of a president to invoke God’s blessing on the country at the end of a speech.  Nor am I suggesting that “In God We Trust” must be removed from the country’s coins.  But just as gay Americans now demand the right to marry, so should irreligious Americans have the right to attend a ballgame without having God intruding on their pastime.