Should atheists fight for religion in government?

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http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/should_atheists_fight_for_religion_in_government_partner/

TUESDAY, APR 16, 2013 11:50 AM PDT
Should atheists fight for religion in government?
Nonbelievers take note: Religious life tends to decline following breakdowns in the separation of church and state

BY SHANNY LUFT


(Credit: TalyaPhoto via Shutterstock)

This article originally appeared on Religion Dispatches.

Debates over separation of church and state are a staple of the culture wars, and skirmishes arise and vanish like radar blips. One recent squabble came and went with such haste, you might have missed it if you were offline for a few days.

The debate over the “Defense of Religion Act” in North Carolina played out with the predictability of a sitcom. I offer this modest proposal, then, to remind both sides that if this is a war, then they have fought to a stalemate, and it is time for some new tactics, by which I mean: the history of religion in America demonstrates that the winner of the culture war will be the side that does the opposite of everything they are doing now.

Consider the tussle in North Carolina. Last month, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Board of Commissioners in Rowan County, North Carolina who have a habit of opening every session with a Christian prayer. An official meeting from December 2007, for example, began:

“As we get ready to celebrate the Christmas season, we’d like to thank you for the Virgin Birth, we’d like to thank you for the Cross at Calvary, and we’d like to thank you for the resurrection. Because we do believe that there is only one way to salvation, and that is Jesus Christ. I ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

In response to the ACLU lawsuit, a dozen North Carolina lawmakers co-sponsored a resolution that, they claimed, was intended to express support for the besieged county commissioners. Yet the resolution went much further than a statement of support, declaring that “The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states… from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.” In other words, the ACLU was arguing on first amendment grounds that Rowan County officials were favoring Christianity. In response, these North Carolina lawmakers proclaimed that the first amendment did not apply to North Carolina.

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