No, Obama is Not the First President to Refer to Atheists

I'm with Allah on this one. There is Grade A lameness coming from some Christians who are shitting themselves because President Obama mentioned "nonbelievers" (as well as "Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus") at the inauguration. Same goes for the atheists who are celebrating it.

Obama has a knack for causing people to completely lose all sense of reality. Or maybe people are just using Obama to let it peek now.

With that one line, the president “seems to be trying to redefine American culture, which is distinctively Christian,” said’ Bishop E.W. Jackson of the Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, Va. “The overwhelming majority of Americans identify as Christians, and what disturbs me is that he seems to be trying to redefine who we are.”

Yuval Levin over at The Corner blew this one out of the water on Thursday, but it doesn't seem to have stuck. So here's your reminder.

Bush 43 at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast:

In our country, we recognize our fellow citizens are free to profess any faith they choose, or no faith at all. You're equally American if you're a Jew, or a Christian, or a Muslim. You're equally American if you choose not to have faith.

Clinton at a Presidential Debate in 1996:

This is the most religious, great country in history. And yet, interestingly enough, we have the most religious freedom of any country in the world, including the freedom not to believe.

As a Catholic, I've got to say that there were many things in his inaugural address that are worrisome. Obama's inclusion of nonbelievers as Americans is not one of them.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 10:42 PM

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