Exchange between Robert I. Sherman, a reporter for the American Atheist news journal, and then Vice-President George H. W. Bush, campaigning for president in 1987:

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

I am trying to think of any other classifiable set by religious, race, ethnicity, gender or even sexual orientation of legal citizens, within the United States that George H. W. Bush, or any other serious presidential candidate, could have casually stated that he didn’t believe they should be considered citizens and had it raise no outcry at all.   Certainly there is a large contingent of Christians who appear to believe that they are under personal attack by the government for their religious beliefs (Google it; you’ll be amazed, or perhaps not, by this very prevalent conviction among them). …But has any presidential candidate ever composedly stated that he does not consider them to be real citizens, though?  Has any presidential candidate ever been anything other than one of them?  Would any presidential candidate who was not one of them ever have the faintest, remotest chance of becoming the president of the United States? 

Speaking of religion and presidential candidates, Mitt the Mormon finally caved and gave the Kennedyesque declaration we’ve all…sort of, since some of us have to work really hard at caring about the specific words actually emerging from his mouth…been waiting for.  Here it is…drumroll please….

"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions.  Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.”  -Gov. Mitt Romney (R) of Massachusetts, 2008 Republican presidential nominee

On a side note, I find this interesting from a purely Mormon perspective.  The Mormon church does make a lot of noise about keeping their mitts (if you’ll pardon the pun) out of direct interference with government affairs.  However, Mormons, and the more devout they are, the more true this is, are rather famous for voting in lockstep with their church leaders.  I wonder how much slack the Church would be willing to cut Mitt in exchange for having one of their own as Big Boss in the White House.  I also wonder how far Mitt would be willing to push the issue.  The Mormons have quite the power and money base in the United States.  I find that most people tend to regard them as a quaint state-based cult out in the salty wilderness of the Southwest, and that these people are frequently eating Mormon-produced food or wearing Mormon-produced clothes or purchasing Mormon-made products as they blink at you in dim confusion…”ain’t they the ones that think polygamy’s okay?”  Well, not exactly…that would actually be one of the big examples of the Mormon church’s willingness to cut slack with the government in exchange for some real power.  Also, they support polyGYNY, which is generally useless to point out, as most people aren’t aware that polygamy doesn’t mean polygyny and have never ever heard of the term polyandry. 

I did peruse the rest of The Mitt Speech, though, and found myself unaccountably musing on the quote reproduced faithfully at the top of this article.  So I went back and reread what Mitt had to say more carefully, to pinpoint the source of my sudden feeling of déjà vu. 

“…"There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us.  If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders…Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom…Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone…It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions.  And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter – on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. …But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning.  They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God.  Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life…The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square.  We are a nation 'Under God' and in God, we do indeed trust…We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word.  He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places.  Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests.  I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty. Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage.  Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: does he share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty? They are not unique to any one denomination.  They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common.  They are the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united. We believe that every single human being is a child of God …The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God…Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government…And you can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me…In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine 'author of liberty.'  And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, 'with freedom's holy light.'God bless the United States of America."

I take from this several clear observations.

1.        Mitt, current serious Republican presidential nominee, says that atheists, agnostics and freethinkers are at odds with the founders of our nation.  Bet a few of the Founders would be really surprised to hear that, given that they were atheists, agnostics or freethinkers.  Mitt better hope they’re not up in Heaven listening to him mangle their reps.

2.        Atheism, agnosticism and freethinking either can’t exist in a free society or a society founded by them can’t be free. So, either (a) the US isn’t a free society, or (b) all several hundred thousand (at least) of the atheists, agnostics and freethinkers in the US are actually imaginary or (c) Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine, at the minimum, were imaginary.  I’d hate to think (a) was true but it is the only option that doesn’t require mass hallucinations to support it.  Or we could just go with Mitt being full of sh*t.

3.         Mitt either never learned in school or has since forgotten that we weren’t a nation “Under God” til the Eisenhower administration, a bit of a while after the time of the Founding Fathers.  Or he figures most of his audience either never learned it or forgot it.  He’s stupid or he’s counting on the rest of us being stupid…which one makes you less nervous in our future commissar?

4.        Nativity scenes and menorahs really don’t encompass more than two of the five zillion religions currently being practiced worldwide, probably at least one zillion of those right here in the US.  Hit one of the stumbling blocks of being a Friend to All Religions (Except Maybe Islam) already, have you? 

5.        Mitt strongly hopes he gets a chance to replace more Supreme Court Justices with even more Scalia sock puppets.

…and in the immortal words of our 41^st president, father of our current president…” I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”