I was delighted to hear that Arlon Specter is changing from Republican to Democrat. That means that the Senate Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority and can essentially ignore the Republicans. When I heard this I laughed out loud thinking of how people like Bill Reilly and Rush Limbaugh would react. I wonder if there are other Republicans thinking of jumping the sinking Republican ship.
So, now is the time to push the defense of the non-religious even harder with respect to various government figures. Write, email, phone, make yourself the wheel that squeaks.
An article in the paper reports a survey of religious affiliation in 2009. About half of all US adults have changed their religious affiliation at least once. That suggests that religious commitment is not terribly strong among such changers. The article also reports that most people leaving their native church did so when they were young. Half of all unaffiliated people cite a belief that religious people are hypocritical, judgemental or insincere. They also said that religions focus too much on rules and that religious leaders are too focussed on money and power. If we atheists wish to undermine the delusions of the religious perhaps we should emphasize these failings of organized religion rather than the contradictions and absurdities of religious doctrines. Hypocracy, sanctimonious sniffing of "sin", insincerity, authoritarianism, and lust for money and power: these are the achilles heels of organized religion. Let us emulate Paris and loose our arrows at this achilles heel.