Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

The following exchange took place between Robert I. Sherman, a journalist for American Atheist magazine and then presidential candidate George H.W. Bush in August of 1987 at a press conference in Chicago.

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.


Atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god or gods, nothing more nothing less. It is difficult to know exactly how many Americans are atheists, it is a much maligned group in this country and many people are hesitant to admit their lack of belief for fear of social ostracism or worse. Most estimates regarding the number of atheists in the country run in the range of 12-16% of the population. This means somewhere in the range of 41 million people in this country (using 14% of the 2000 census population numbers) should not, according to Bush, be considered citizens or patriots.

So, can you imagine what would happen if these 41 million suddenly decided to not pay taxes? I mean, if we aren't recognized as citizens we shouldn't have to pay taxes, right? Or what about all the military and civil servants who are part of the 41 million? Since they aren't patriotic, it is pretty much pointless for them to do their jobs. What if all the atheists who work for sanitation companies, huge multinational corporations, law enforcement agencies, universities, Wal-Mart and all the airlines all decided to quit going to work?

I guess this also means that Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Aldous Huxley, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison and many, many others would be kicked out of the "Bush American Club" for their lack of belief in a deity. Many of our country's greatest achievements have been made possible by the sweat and blood of atheists. So, with all due lack of respect Mr. Bush, you can take your bigotry and shove it up your ass.

I don't want my daughter to grow up to be a carbon copy of me. I feel like my greatest challenge as a parent is to teach her to think independently and critically, if she ends up thinking exactly like I do then I will have failed miserably. If, as an adult she chooses a life of faith in God then I will be fine with it, as long as it is a well thought out and well researched faith. I will be terribly disappointed if she blindly follows some guru into bankruptcy. I am frightened for her though, what kind of life awaits her in a world that is being sculpted by the son of the above mentioned asshole?