Sasha, Malia and Michelle participate while President Barack Obama takes the oath of office. (AP Photo/Chuck Kennedy, Pool)
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers."
In President Obama's inaugural address, he explicitly recognized that not all Americans believe in god.
He stated that diversity is a source of strength, but acknowledged that it can also be a source of strife. In fact, he suggested, it is in part because of the American experience with civil war that America has learned that the old divisions can eventually give way to unity.
"... because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."
We at Atheist Times want to underscore that hopeful vision.
We also note that religious differences have, throughout history, been one of the main sources of war and aggression. Religion continues to be at the root of the terrible conflicts and violence that wreak senseless injury and death to countless innocent victims, day after day after day.
We hold that the vision of a peaceful world is one of the most compelling of all reasons to reject the ancient tribal legends that are now recognized, in their modern garb of superstition-bound institutions, as "the great religions."
We share with President Obama the hope "that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve" and that "our common humanity shall reveal itself." Our commitment to the transcendent importance of our common humanity is, for many atheists, one of the main reasons that they have rejected that tired old war-cry, "the chosen people."
For atheists, there is only one people - homo sapiens. It is our problematic species, bound with all other organisms into a single vast biological family, who must stretch beyond the superstions of our ancestors.
As Mr. Obama said earlier in his speech, "the time has come to set aside childish things." It is ironic that one of the most childish of all the things that must be set aside is the wishful thinking that gave rise to the first half of that statement: "... but in the words of Scripture."
Atheism is, at least in part, the conviction that our beliefs should be shaped by our best understanding of the evidence as it is, not by our traditions -- and, emphatically, not by our desire that reality should conform to our preferred explanations. As atheists, we are profoundly aware of our common humanity.
We believe that there is one clear way to answer the question of whether or not our turbulent species will survive the many perils that threaten us with extinction.
The only way that humanity will defeat its ancient foes is to become free of the ancient bondage to violent and jealous gods.
You can read the full text of the address here