This humorous speech was given by Herb Silverman on Oct. 17 at FFRF’s 48th annual convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He was introduced by FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Annie Laurie Gaylor: Herb Silverman, who’s an Afterlife Member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and lives in South Carolina, is a distinguished professor of mathematics at the College of Charleston. He founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, and he’s president emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America, which he founded.
Herb is going to tell you how he won a unanimous 1997 decision by the state Supreme Court of South Carolina, striking down the state’s religious test requirement to run for office. And, he’s written a book about it, “Candidate Without a Prayer,” as well as “An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land.”
I’m going to surprise you, Herb, very belatedly, by naming you our Freethinker of the Year, which is reserved for individuals winning state/church lawsuits. We don’t know how we missed giving this to you back in 1997. It’s high time to correct this oversight. So, please, be our Freethinker of the Year.
By Herb Silverman
Thank you, Annie Laurie for that wonderful introduction. Seeing this large bunch of atheists and humanists meeting in South Carolina would have been quite a scandal back in 1976 when I moved here from Philadelphia to teach mathematics at the College of Charleston. It was my first trip below the Mason-Dixon Line. It was a bit of a culture shock for me, and for South Carolina, as well.
After teaching at the College of Charleston for 14 years, I underwent a major life change in 1990 when a colleague pointed out that our South Carolina Constitution prohibits atheists from becoming governor. I knew the U.S. Constitution barred religious tests for public office, so I went to our local ACLU and a lawyer there told me an atheist would need to mount a legal challenge by running for governor. He said the best candidate would be me. Well, I looked around and didn’t see any other volunteers, so I agreed to become the candidate without a prayer.
I learned that “atheist” is a very provocative word, and not just in South Carolina. The Associated Press picked up the story, and the following day I got a call from a very distressed woman in Philadelphia — my mother. I admit, the Philadelphia Inquirer was not the best way for my mother to find out their only child is a candidate for governor — and an atheist. She didn’t so much mind my being an atheist. The problem for her was going public about it. She always wanted me to appear respectable, but that never quite happened.
