Atheists are Americans, too. Therefore, religion doesn’t belong in a Presidential Inauguration. That’s what I’m hearing from my atheist friends. They don’t like the Oath of Office taken on a Bible and ending with “so help me God.” And they certainly don’t like today’s National Day of Prayer at (gasp!) the National Cathedral.
My reply to them is this: When our country was formed, even atheists who helped frame the Constitution agreed to the inclusion of the Deity, as long as the rights of non-believers were secure. The National Day of Prayer goes back to those same times, when George Washington participated. Today we continue what has become a national tradition, one that harks back even farther, when Pilgrims sailed here so they could exercise their right to worship. (I like to think that a few of them were, in reality, atheists and agnostics, coming along because they felt that they could help form a new nation in which they, too, were not persecuted.)
Is something right or good simply because it’s tradition? Of course not. But if it’s based on fighting injustice, and if it’s nurtured into something that allows justice for all…that makes it good and right.
Besides, if atheists are right, all we are doing is promoting good (although they call it “brainwashing”). On the other hand, if believers are right…well, we and our country can use all help can get .