Non-theists deserve a Supreme

One consequence of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is an opportunity to provide a measure of justice for us 72,000,000 American non-theists. While we make up 23% of the population, our percentage of the Supreme Court is zilch, zero, nada. Not only that, we've never held a single one of the 112 Supreme slots in the 227 years since the Supreme Court was established in 1789. Prior to his death, Catholics made up 67 % of the current court compared to just 21% of the population. Jews made up the other 33%, an even bigger anomaly to their tiny 2% of the populous. Though Protestants haven't a single Supreme either, a majority of all 112 Justices were Protestants. Scalia has left his extreme Catholic mark on a number of issues that a non-theist has no interest in interfering with.

A huge benefit of getting one of our team on the Court is tamping down the extreme prejudice the so-called religious practice against us non-believers. When polled, non-theists rank dead last in terms of a group folks couldn't bring themselves to vote for. Only 4% wouldn't vote for a black; 11% for a gal; 12% for an Hispanic; 45% for a gay; and a whopping 53% for a non-theist. That must change. Though legally twisted and unenforceable, seven states, Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, North and South Carolina still have laws forbidding a non-theist to hold state office.

A fitting coda to Scalia's 30 years of injecting his religious predilections on the fabric of our polity might be paving the way for a non-theist having a chance to play God.