Preaching to the choir

I am sick of the way religion has come to dominate politics in this country. All serious presidential candidates have to prove their Christian worth and participate in things like faith forums. Something like 70% of the voting populace say they wouldn't consider voting for someone who didn't believe in God. In fact, Rick Warren just told Larry King couldn't vote for someone who was "so arrogant that he thinks he doesn't need any help from a higher power." He seemed to suggest atheists are all, almost inherently, arrogant.



Well, I'm an atheist. And it's really starting to chap my hide that I'm a non-factor in politics. No politicians feel any need to reach out to my voting block. And I don't get the luxury of refusing to vote for a candidate whose belief system does not match my own. Maybe I'd be a lot more comfortable with a president who wasn't looking to some higher power to help out and take care of things. I'd prefer a president who thinks we here on earth have to take care of things ourselves. But I don't get that choice because no matter what the Constitution says, our presidential candidates feel they need to pass a religious litmus test. They have to attract the religious voters, so God talk has to come up everywhere.

Which is starting to make me feel politically irrelevant. Maybe the Rick Warrens of the world should give a little more thought to what atheists are really about. Because your idea of an atheist isn't anything like me. It's not that I'm arrogant and think we don't need any help. I most definitely think we desperately need some help from someone way better and bigger than us; I just don't think it's coming. Apparently that makes me unfit to be president.