Herb Silverman

From Philosopedia

Silverman, Herb (1942- )

Silverman is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, where he is founder and faculty advisor to the Atheist Alliance International student group.

Silverman ran for Governor of South Carolina in 1990 to challenge the provision in the state Constitution that prohibited atheists from holding the office. Judge David C. Norton declared that the case was not ripe and that he would only rule on the merits of the case if Silverman were to win the Gubernatorial election. Silverman lost the election, but applied in 1992 to become a notary public, striking out “so help me God” on the application. South Carolina’s Governor Carrol A. Campbell Jr. and its Secretary of State Jim Miles rejected the application. But in 1995, Fifth Circuit Judge Thomas L. Hughston Jr. ruled [Order 94-CP-40-3594, 2 August1995) that state laws requiring officeholders to sign oaths affirming the existence of a deity are unconstitutional. The Wall Street Journal (9 August 1995) recognized Silverman’s achievements by placing him in their “winners” column.

Commented The Economist (12 October 1996),

• Mr Silverman, raised in the Jewish faith, says he will enjoy being a notary public if he wins his case. He hopes it will ‘change the hearts and minds of some of my fellow South Carolinians who don’t believe that atheists can be moral and ethical people.’ “(“In (blank) we trust.

But the new Governor, David Beasley, appealed the decision. On May 27, 1997, the South Carolina Supreme Court (Opinion No. 24622) unanimously affirmed the Circuit Court’s decision and Silverman won his case to become a notary public, which nullified the religious test requirement in the South Carolina Constitution.

Silverman is President of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in South Carolina, national board member of the American Humanist Association, and national board member of the Atheist Alliance International. He also is of President of the Secular Coalition for America, an umbrella group of national freethought organizations,which has hired the nation’s first lobbyist in Washington, D.C. to represent the views of 30 million nonreligious Americans.

Invited to debate at the Oxford Union on May 26, 2005, he argued the affirmative side on “This House believes that American religion undermines American values.” Silverman’s side won the debate, defeating the side with Richard Lowry, Editor of National Review.

Silverman has written a chapter called “Innerancy Turned Political” in The Fundamentals of Extremism (New Boston Books, edited By Kimberly Blaker 2003).

Currently, he lives near the University of South Carolina in Charleston.