Lance Armstrong, whose name at birth was Lance Gunderson, was born and raised in Plano, Texas.
There is no word that I can find regarding Armstrong's childhood religion, if there was any. But it is widely accepted that Armstrong is an agnostic or even an atheist.[1] But I'm not sure it's that simple. Perhaps the quote that most supports that view (and it might be Armstrong's funniest as well) is:
If there was a God, I'd still have both nuts.[2]
And while Armstrong overtly rejects organized religion, he doesn't disparage its possible usefulness, saying:
I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs.[3]
And he acknowledges there might be a God in heaven, but he isn't willing to go so far as to live a life solely motivated by that possibility:
If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn't say, 'But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven.' If so, I was going to reply, 'You know what? You're right. Fine.'[4]
However, it is evident that Armstrong is not religious and does not see religion as something worth too much of his time or energy–despite a battle with cancer, something many feel will bring even the staunchest unbeliever to religion.
Political ambiguity
Much like his religious views, Armstrong's political views are equally difficult to define. There seems to be a consensus among opinionated question and answer site contributors that Armstrong is a Democrat, and slightly liberal. One commenter said:
Mr. Armstrong has described himself as "middle to left." He's pro-choice, "not keen on guns," against the Iraq war, and for separation of church and state. By standards of his home state of Texas, he would be considered a Democrat.[5]
Now, numerous sites echo this answer, despite its more-than questionable credibility.[6]
One thing for sure is that Armstrong is pretty good friends with George W. Bush, though he said they disagreed about the Iraq War. Armstrong said:
He's a personal friend, but we've all got the right not to agree with our friends.[7]
Armstrong did briefly run for governor of Texas–supposedly as a Democrat, because the bulk of his platform was how incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry was an idiot. He said:
Rick Perry has made Texas the laughing stock of America, with his rants and raves against the Health Care Reform Act, and his threats of secession.[8]
Armstrong quickly dropped out of the race, saying he wanted to spend time with his family.[9] But there's nothing conclusive I can find that Armstrong was explicitly a Democrat–though it seems reasonable to assume so.
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