Out of the Closet and into the Fires of Hell!

Several years ago I was approached by two men in suits who wanted to talk to my father and me about God. My father, more cool cucumber than I, told them to just keep walking. I decided to argue with them. When I told them that I believed that there was no God, they asked, “Then what’s the point to living?” To which I replied, “Why does there have to be a point?” Once they got an earful of my own annoying rhetoric, they offered blessings and quickly moved on. I was a bit of a jerk to them, but at the same time I realized back then that I am part of a disliked minority. It wasn’t long after that I told a coworker that I don’t believe in God. She, being a good Catholic, felt immediate fear for my soul and was clearly very shaken by the news. I actually felt bad for her that she was so worried about me.

Atheists really are sick, twisted individuals. How could anyone vote for someone with such a disgusting outlook? I wonder if this is what is in the minds of those who participated in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll which put atheists at the bottom of a list of identifiers for whom people would vote in the ’08 presidential race. The list included in order of most likely to least likely: Catholic, Black, Jewish, Woman, Hispanic, Mormon, Married for Third Time, 72 Years Old, Homosexual, and Atheist. An article with the list is available here:

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/02/usa_todaygallup.html

It goes to show that, for whatever reason, see non-belief as a detriment to an ability to lead. Noticeably, “qualified” and “intelligent” were not part of the list.

Happily, I read recently that one US Congressman finally came out of the closet (or sacristy) and admitted that, “he does not believe in a supreme being.”

After so many recent issues with school boards pushing Creationism and Intelligent Interference (sic.) his quote below, I think, is an encouraging bit of news.

I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of
narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the
provision of social services.