Do you suppose we will ever, as a nation, shake off our prejudice against anyone who doesn't believe in an all powerful deity? Can a self professed atheist ever be elected to the highest office in the U.S.?

Of course, we most likely have had an atheist president already -- they just couldn't admit it publicly.

John McCain was never really a particularly religious person before he began his run for presidency. But of course, he has to invoke the name of God consistently to pander to the religious right. Even in the days of our founding fathers, many of whom were Deists, they often presented themselves at devout Christians. From those early days to the present, it is virtually impossible to gain influence in our society without professing membership to a Christian church. That's politics.

I've been perplexed for years to totally grasp why we, as a nation, demand faith from our leaders. Of course the short answer is we want to identify with our elected officials -- if faith is important to us, then it should be important to them. As someone who does not believe in God, that puts me in the minority. I certainly have no problem with those who possess a strong religious faith -- with the exception of the religious extremists who seek to impose their beliefs upon the public through their governance -- so why do so many have such a problem with my lack of faith? I have come to understand it a little more over the past few years with my interactions with devout, sometimes very belligerent believers. One need only look to the Bible to find out why atheists are held in such low regard.

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Ouch! Once I first read that, I could see why atheists are so despised: Bible God himself has pretty much declared that they are lower than a snake's belly. We can't have any of them running the country, now can we?

And of course, atheists will forever be linked with those "Godless" Communists. When we put all this together, it's understandable why no person running for office would ever commit political suicide by declaring he/she is an atheist. I wonder if we, as a country, will ever be free of such ridiculous biases -- doubtful in our lifetimes, I imagine. Until we become more enlightened, we can expect a certain percentage of politicians to lie about their lack of belief in God. We're just not going to know which ones.