Underlying all these pitiful attempts lies, it seems, one common thread : the United States is a Christian country, and atheists are little more than second-class citizens. Only Christians deserve the full protection of individual rights. And indeed, recent survey show that a majority of people are opposed to the First Amendment. To say that this is a dangerous attitude is a teeth-cringing understatement.
Was the United States founded by Christians, for Christians ? Former president George Bush seemed to believe so when he said that atheists were not citizens and that the United States was "one nation under God". George W Bush has fought against the acceptance of Wiccans in the army and is promoting faith-based governmental programs. It seems that proeminent leaders believe that you have no place in this country. But it wasn't always that way.
Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, which was an official treaty signed by president John Adams (despite being drafted during the last year of George Washington's presidency) and has been historically used as a protection against Holy Jihads, states that :
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen [Muslims]; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan [Islamist] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
The Constitution of the United States, despite being a document most worthy of our reverence, does not mention gods at all. There is no mention of religion being a factor in the creation of the country. And of course we all know the 1st Amendment :
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
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