--- title: Atheists Aren’t the Problem, Christian Intolerance Is the Problem description: If Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's disparagement of atheists was just the ranting of a tinpot politician turned Fox News bloviator, it could be left... canonical: https://time.com/3450525/atheists-arent-the-problem-christian-intolerance-is-the-problem/ author: Richard Dawkins article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-30T21:50:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:44:48.558Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Atheists Aren't the Problem, Christian Intolerance Is the Problem og:description: Huckabee's remarks that believers should "fire" atheists from public office go against a tolerant and just society og:url: https://time.com/3450525/atheists-arent-the-problem-christian-intolerance-is-the-problem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90c4505f2a220828/6986a641cd804de52eccd133/477118005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Held In D.C. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Atheists Aren't the Problem, Christian Intolerance Is the Problem twitter:description: Huckabee's remarks that believers should "fire" atheists from public office go against a tolerant and just society twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90c4505f2a220828/6986a641cd804de52eccd133/477118005.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Atheists Aren't the Problem, Christian Intolerance Is the Problem > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=6e679b5d-c3c0-4fc7-acc8-b454af264a26&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside A Christian Pot Shop [Watch (HLS stream): Inside A Christian Pot Shop](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vz4fpqkC.m3u8) (5:22)  _Published 2014-04-03. Bryan and Lanette Davies run a Christian medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento. After God told Bryan to open a cannabis shop, the couple say they have been doing God's work in providing natural care to the sick._ by [Richard Dawkins](https://time.com/author/richard-dawkins/) and [Robyn Blumner](https://time.com/author/robyn-blumner/) Sep 30, 2014 9:50 PM UTC  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee speaks during the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee speaks during the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Richard Dawkins](https://time.com/author/richard-dawkins/) and [Robyn Blumner](https://time.com/author/robyn-blumner/) Sep 30, 2014 9:50 PM UTC If Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s [disparagement of atheists](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/09/huckabee-wants-to-fire-atheists-working-for-the-government/) was just the ranting of a tinpot politician turned Fox News bloviator, it could be left without comment or fuss. Unfortunately, not only does Huckabee have to be taken seriously as a possible Presidential candidate in 2016, but his suggestion that atheists who work for the government (primarily elected officials) be summarily “fired” is an applause line in too many quarters in the United States. That nonbelievers somehow deserve to be discriminated against is a view widely shared, particularly among Christian conservatives who seem to think “religion by the sword” is an oldie but a goodie. This latest bit of hate was offered up – where else? – at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. The ritual hookup between Christian conservatives and Republican presidential aspirants is a right wing, Jesus-loves-us debauch of Homophobia, Intolerance and Militarism, a trifecta easily remembered by the acronym “HIM”. Huckabee, in a tortured metaphor about answering phones “God is ringing,” exhorted his audience to answer the God-call by making sure only people with the right values are hired for jobs in Washington and by making sure those who “refuse to hear … God’s heart” are fired. No joke, Huckabee is suggesting that we should: 1) Find out whether government employees are true believers; 2) Fire those who aren’t. Yes, that is illegal, which makes the suggestion all the more stunning from someone who expects to be taken seriously on America’s national political stage. But such warped intolerance toward people who simply don’t subscribe to a deity, is considered a ticket to electoral success in some parts of the United States. Consider [Zach Dasher’s view of nonbelievers](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/09/25/congressional-candidate-and-nephew-of-duck-dynasty-patriarch-under-fire-over-comments-about-sandy-hook-mass-killings-and-atheism/) – comments [he rolled back on Monday](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/09/28/duck-dynasty-patriarchs-nephew-responds-to-controversy-over-atheist-comments-and-issues-dire-warning-about-what-happens-when-society-rejects-god/) after public pressure. This Republican congressional candidate in Louisiana and nephew of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, suggested on his faith-based podcast that atheism contributed to the Sandy Hook massacre of 20 children and six adults in 2012. Apparently, the premier driver was not the mental illness from which shooter Adam Lanza clearly suffered, nor was it that an unstable man was able legally to amass a stockpile of weapons, thanks to his mother supplying them. According to Dasher, “the reason why (the Sandy Hook massacre) happened is that we have denied as a culture that man is made in God’s image.” He said the “atheist agenda” reinforces a message that says “you don’t matter … all you are is chemical, all you are is material.” Had Dasher bothered to find out about atheism, humanism and the nonreligious, he would have come to understand just how precious this community views life. Unlike Dasher, who believes there is another existence – a better one — outside the temporal, atheists, humanists and freethinkers believe they have one life and one chance to do something meaningful with it. With no supernatural arbiter to fall back on, nonbelievers know it is up to them and them alone to promote justice, compassion and a fair society. The proof that secular people are good, care for others and build healthy societies is evidenced in cross-national studies. The [research of Phil Zuckerman](http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/zuckerman.htm) at Pitzer College, demonstrates that secular societies, such as Sweden and Denmark, among others, are more likely to enjoy broadly shared prosperity and a high level of societal health and happiness than traditionally religious ones, and certainly more so than the United States. Gregory Paul has done [a similar comparison](http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.pdf), as well as one between states within the US, and found parallel results. Which way the causal arrow goes is an interesting question: does secularism foster healthy caring, or does religiosity die away in societies where people care for one another? [Paul himself says](http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/EP073984414.pdf), “once a nation’s population becomes prosperous and secure, for example through economic security and universal health care, much of the population loses interest in seeking the aid and protection of supernatural entities.” Whichever way the causal arrow goes, politicians like Huckabee and Dasher would do well to ponder (if indeed they know the meaning of the word) on Zuckerman’s summation: “(W)hen we consider the fundamental values and moral imperatives contained within the world’s great religions, such as caring for the sick, the infirm, the elderly, the poor, the orphaned, the vulnerable; practicing mercy, charity, and goodwill toward one’s fellow human beings; and fostering generosity, humility, honesty, and communal concern over individual egotism — those traditionally religious values are most successfully established, institutionalized, and put into practice at the societal level in the most irreligious nations in the world today.” With that reality, one has to wonder what politicians like Huckabee and Dasher really stand for? _Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and internationally best-selling author. Robyn Blumner is the executive director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science._ ## Transcript Good morning, Sacramento. This is Bryan Davies and Lanette Davies. [ INAUDIBLE ] I normally just pray, thank you lord, thank you lord, thank you lord. Thank you lord, for this chance. Thank you, lord, for everything. Thank you lord that it's a blessing that Lanette is. I have a fear of praying and asking for something. Since you're praying against his will, you're praying for evil. Well at this point in time I start praying, please help me, Lord. Help me, Lord. Tell me what to do. I need to get back in the business. I need to do something to be able to earn money. He said, open up a pot shop. And the Lord said, who are you not to do my will? [ MUSIC ] This has absolutely has been a ministry that has been ordained by God. So it is a christian dispensary, however, it is run by christians. Not all my employees are necessarily christian. It is not something that I require from them. Many people will stop because they are offended not by the marijuana but by the christianity. And it's a strangest thing. I was pissed that they open it up. It was not only embarrassing to me, it was this is, this is wrong, what are you doing? LIke I don't wanna be a part of it. When God told me to open up a cannabis shop, I go on the internet. [ SOUND ] They told us to target men between the ages of 20 and 30 years old because they'll spend the most on cannabis. We had a competitor, who used to have Bikini Wednesday. [ LAUGH ] Instead, I have a huge amount of elderly that are coming by and, you know, they've been taking handfuls, poundfuls of pharmaceuticals and getting sicker off of the pharmaceuticals! And they come over and say, do you have anything on this disease, or this disease. Or, are there any studies on this, and how do I get a cannabis recommendation? This has been, the whole time, has been an education process, so that people could take a look at a patient, and not see a stoner. Oh, you work there, that means that you get high all the time. It's like actually, no, we don't. We have people that come in here and they have cancer, and some of the people die. A lot of 'em were Christians and believers who were pissed at God. Yeah. So that's my whole Sunday Prayer started here. In the name of my lord, Jesus Christ, if any evil is in this room, may the lord rebuke it. I'm always watching the clock like, is it six o'clock yet? Cuz I'm eager to pray. And we pray for everyone. Even patients join in on our prayer. We wanna thank you for Lanette, Teva, Joe, Jeff, Ronnie [ CROSSTALK ] We've actually had employees that didn't want to participate for whatever reason [ UNKNOWN ], and it's okay. We're not here to judge you, one way or another. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. I've been coming here for four years, and I'm a very satisfied customer. [ INAUDIBLE ] You know what I'm saying, you cannot judge people for sinning differently than you. Amen. Amen. Thank you. [ CROSSTALK ] And that one lady, and what she said was, God's God and you know what, I've got cancer and I need all the prayers I can get. [ MUSIC ]. I think our court case is something that God has provided for us as an opportunity. We did keep completely clean records. Everything was absolutely done correctly, to the point that we did pass that audit with flying colors. Cana Care owes the IRS more than $ 800, 000 in income taxes. At issue is this 1982 law, that bans the deduction of expenses for trafficking and controlled substances. They allow you to take the cannabis as your deduction, but they disallow you all the legal expenses. So the IRS came back and said give us 194, 000 and they will drop everything, and I said no, I wanna go to court. But then they make this deal with you, if you give us a couple extra percent of gross sales, this all goes behind you. [ MUSIC ]. So is it illegal federally or is not illegal federally? Because you'll allow us to stay in business if we give you more money. [ MUSIC ] Crusaders For Patients Rights is my organization. It's kinda my, basis of what I do. Remove federal barriers for medical and scientific cannabis research, and create [ CROSSTALK ]. We have no problems putting together a protest. And we actually have done protests at the federal court building and we've done candlelight vigils. But even now, churches have even come on board. There are several of them that have actually said, you know, we don't have a problem with medicinal cannabis. They have none. As a matter of fact, they wanna have those options open. I use cannabis at night. I usually use a pipe, a small amount, and it usually is, you know, a couple of tokes and I go to bed. He has a pretty gnarly disease. He have [ UNKNOWN ]. I had never seen him sleep through a night until Cannabis. Until he used Cannabis. I had never seen him sleep through a night. And we were married 25 years. I go straight back to, you know, God created this as a man made herb. It is a medicine. And it works as a medicine. And when it comes down to it, God's commandment to us is to take care of the sick and ill. Let me ask you this, did God create pot? I know he did. [ CROSSTALK ] Created everything. And you know what I know about God? He is still working with you. I would not do, it if I didn't endorse what we were doing here. If I thought for one minute, that this was not the way that he wanted us to go. I would not be here. I'm always worried about being a negative reflection on christianity, because it's not what we wanna do, but at the same point, I would be negatively not following God's commandments. If I didn't take this stance and work it. 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