Data, Statistics and Unbelievers

I was pretty impressed with Obama's inauguration speech. He almost slipped by without using the word 'terrorist' or any of its relations (he used 'terror' once) and he gave respect for science and rationalism a shot in the arm by appealing to data and statistics:

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

He almost did right by the rest of us by referring to those of us for whom faith is not a concept, although he used a term which centres on faith. One can be sure that every word in the speech had a great deal of thought behind it, and that every word was balanced with its synonyms. We can infer, therefore, that Obama's team considers atheist as being in some way wrong. It is arguably the most accurate term, and so it must be wrong for political reasons. Perhaps 'unbelievers' is a way of being inclusive while still indicating his theological position.

Naturally, Neoformix has the whole thing in perspective.

Comments

[Nicolai]

The BBC transcript, and my memory of watching it live, says he used the word "non-believers", which is more polite and not culturally loaded in the same way as "unbelievers".
"non-believers", while being somewhat vague to avoid irritating the ardent theists into not listening to him, also includes agnostics as well as atheists, and could also include people who do not believe in a "god" or "gods" (such as people with spiritual or animist beliefs).
In a short speech with a lot to cover, I think it's the best that could be fitted in.

[Daniel Tunkelang]

As far as I know, it's the first time a president has explicitly reached out to non-believers, by any name. I think that's a big step, and one that surely carried more risk for him than upside. Count me as grateful for this gesture.

[Andy the unbeliever]

Unfortunately statistics are never going to help with getting people out of a recession although they could be a useful tool to monitor the progress.

A faith or belief that people can succeed is more likely to be successful. In that way a President who has a strong faith might actually be what is needed for the USA just now. Hopefully this strength can be utilised without needing to corrupt the schools system with things such as creationism. Obama should also be in the position where he understands that people are different and can have different beliefs.

[Mark from CT]

The fact that he mentions non-believers is probably a step forward, although I felt (and I was in DC in the cold listening intently) at the time that the term was a slight and not on par with the other explicit religions he mentioned.

I consider my own spirituality still under construction having recently moved from the atheist column to the "I think there must be something out there, but I will be damned if I can pretend to figure it out" -- which, IMO, is exactly the vacuum that all organized religions fill.

Just my $.02

BTW: I am a huge Obama supporter and continue to be so.