A lot of things inform our decisions as voters. As atheists, agnostics, skeptics and freethinkers, one of those particularly relevant issues is how we are treated (or mistreated) solely on the basis of our (lack of) beliefs. Therefore, I thought it germane, considering the upcoming election, to give the "skinny" on how Florida's Congressional officials have done with their "secular scorecard".
The Secular Coalition for America has set up two things of note (yes, I'm late on this):
The Secular Coalition for America has set up two things of note (yes, I'm late on this):
1) A $1,000 challenge to find the "highest-ranking elected official" who is nontheistic -- if you find the highest-ranking official, you win the $1,000
2) A "secular scorecard" for each member of Congress. They took 10 key votes concerning the Separation of Church and State, and religious freedom, and used them as a "measuring stick" to judge the Congressional official by. For more on the methodology, see HERE. See the results below the fold for Florida in detail (the table may be hard to view, so here is the House in .pdf; Senate in .pdf):
| FLORIDA HOUSE | Party | RC24 | RC46 | RC48 | RC204 | RC283 | RC492 | RC378 | RC385 | RC386 | RC388 | Score |
| Bilirakis, M, 9th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Boyd, A, 2nd | D | - | + | + | + | + | + | - | - | - | + | 60 |
| Brown, C, 3rd | D | - | + | + | + | nv | + | + | + | - | + | 70 |
| Brown-Waite, V, 5th | R | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | + | 20 |
| Crenshaw, A, 4th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Davis, J, 11th | D | - | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | - | + | 80 |
| Diaz-Balart, L, 21st | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | 10 |
| Diaz-Balart, M, 25th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | 10 |
| Feeney, T, 24th | R | nv | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Foley, M, 16th | R | - | - | - | + | - | - | + | - | - | + | 30 |
| Harris, K, 13th | R | - | nv | nv | - | nv | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Hastings, A, 23rd | D | - | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | - | + | 80 |
| Keller, R, 8th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Mack, C, 14th | R | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | + | 20 |
| Meek, K, 17th | D | - | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | - | + | 80 |
| Mica, J, 7th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Miller, J, 1st | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Putnam, A, 12th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Ros-Lehtinen, I, 18th | R | nv | - | - | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | 10 |
| Shaw Jr, E, 22nd | R | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | + | 20 |
| Stearns, C, 6th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Wasserman Schultz, D, 20th | D | - | + | + | + | nv | + | + | + | + | + | 80 |
| Weldon, D, 15th | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Wexler, R, 19th | D | - | + | + | + | nv | + | + | + | + | + | 80 |
| Young, C, 10th | R | - | - | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 |
| FLORIDA SENATE | Party | RC24 | RC46 | RC48 | RC204 | RC283 | RC492 | RC378 | RC385 | RC386 | RC388 | Score |
| Martinez, M | R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Nelson, B | D | - | + | - | + | - | + | - | + | + | + | 60 |
Note that the House winners here are split almost evenly down party lines: (D) Allen Boyd, Corrine Brown, Jim Davis (running for governor), Alcee Hastings, Kendrick Meek, and Debbie Shultz and Rob Wexler. Boyd was lowest with 60, followed by Brown with 70. All the other Dems got 80.
Contrariwise, the highest-scoring House Republican, with a score of 30, was...Mark Foley...
In the Senate, clearly Bill Nelson stomps Mel Martinez, 60 to 0.
Everyone has different priorities, but I thought it useful to present this information, just to factor it in to your personal equation, to help inform your decision. Also remember PERA, and join this Facebook group if you oppose it, as 160 others do, so far.
