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exclusion, intolerance, discrimination, persecution, violence, ancestor worship, the submission of human beings to divine authority, and the mindless, unquestioning veneration of ancient texts.

Secular humanists have nothing to apologize for. We bear no animosity toward people who disagree with us. We don't kill people over the meaning of ancient texts. And we do not force our religion into the faces and lives of others by putting our ideals on parade, insisting that all politicians adhere to them, or staging in-your-face public celebrations of our values. Gay Pride parades take place all over this great land of ours. Can you imagine the animosity that would greet a Humanist/Atheist Pride celebration?

I remember visiting the Museum of the History of Religion in the former Leningrad. Think torture racks and much more. Good, I thought. Atheism may be the only thing the USSR got right.

A few years ago there was a movie entitled "The Contender," which was about whether the accusation of an earlier sexual escapade would or would not scuttle the career of a female presidential candidate. All but unmentioned - of course, I caught it - was the fact that she was also an atheist.

I think the character's atheism, if placed at the center of the plot, would have made for more and more interesting - dramatic conflict than even her sexual history, whatever that was.

A Secular Humanist President

How would the country respond to a candidate who was qualified in every way but denied God's existence? Not well, I would think. In fact, I confidently predict that if current conditions continue, we will see a Black President, a female President, even an Asian-American and a gay President - before an avowed secular humanist is elected to the nation's highest office. And yet this choice would make the most sense, given that our nation's Founders clearly intended that religion and politics be kept separate.

At attempt at empathy and understanding

I try to be compassionate. I try to be empathetic. I try to understand the one-sided rage that is directed at nonbelievers. And I think I do understand it. When your entire, shared worldview is based on a fantasy - the metaphysical, the divine, call it whatever you want, but it's still a fantasy, a shared, consensual figment of the imagination - then your wall of belief is so thin and fragile that any threat must be dealt with severely.

Such a view is no longer tenable. We only have one Earth, and we simply have to share it peacefully. Religious intolerance drags us backwards into the darkness. It is reason and science that improve life for all of us.

Shedding the burden of God

There's another significant upside: since secular humanists are never thinking about God never praying, never worrying about what he thinks or wants - they can devote much more attention, energy and resources to improving themselves, their relationships, and their environment. This is what the major religions are all about, if we strip away all the mythology, ritual, and other God-baggage.

Secular humanists know that the truth of human experience is that certain virtues, practices, and habits of mind and character make for a better life. We have outgrown the need for an invisible punishing deity to instill morality in us through fear. We know we can be good without God. And I think it would be a better world if everyone else could figure out how to do the same thing.

Learn more about this author, Alan Perlman.
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