From the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli

Art. 11. 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 Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.

Maybe off the point, but Lori Lipman Brown is one of the very best LGBT allies in Las Vegas. During her term as a state senator, she championed the first (and possibly only) legislative repeal of consensual sex laws (sodomy laws). She was also a longtime columnist for the Las Vegas Bugle, Las Vegas's 30-year-old LGBT newspaper (now called QVegas), a prominent member of the short-lived PAC Equal Rights Nevada, and heavily involved for many years in the local GLSEN.

More "on the point," I suppose, religious theistic bias is so pervasive in our society (bias against nontheists or atheists) that we don't even have a word for it. Atheistphobia? Institutional theism? And yet, there's no questions that many, many people assume that a person who believes in a god (any god, really) is automatically "better" than a person who rejects belief in any god.

Seriously, after sarah palin seriously saying "If the Pledge of Allegiance was good enough for the Founding Fathers, then it's good enough for me," a lot of people really do need a history lesson.

No wonder it's one of the first subjects in school to get politicized.

It is no surprise to anybody that has read my comments that I am a Barack Obama supporter. One area that bothers me about his campaign is his constant referral to his religious preference and sharing comments on his religious beliefs. I understand why Obama is doing discussing his religious beliefs. Obama wants to win over people who are religious but not part of the fanatical religious right. However, I believe that religion preference and politics should be kept totally separate. Of course the Republicans are ten times worse than the Democrats on this issue but Obama bringing religious preference into Democratic Party politics makes me both angry and nervous.

There is nothing wrong with a candidate letting the public know what religious preference they have. There is nothing wrong with a candidate expressing their sexual orientation either. I see discussion of religious preference and sex to be on the same level.

When a candidate expresses their religious views as part of their politics then they should also describe in detail their favorite sexual position, how many different sex partners they have had in the past 10 years, how often they have sex and how many people they like to have sex with at the same time!

If we are forced to mention God in the pledge of allegiance then it should be equally use Satan instead. If that bothers some people then perhaps they can get a glimpse of how those of us who are atheists feel when we have hear God at political and public events.

I was taught that one religious views were personal and to be kept private. I respect that. Our constitution provides freedom of religion (which I also strongly believe to be freedom from religion as well). That freedom doesn't extend to forcing their religious views on others!