Letter: Atheism a religious belief that there is no God

In the Feb. 27 article, "Atheist Discusses Challenge to Pledge of Allegiance," The Chronicle objectively portrays atheist Michael Newdow's protests against the use of the word "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. However, within the article Matt Durham argues that "God" should stay in the Pledge of Allegiance because "the establishment clause is to mean no state-sponsored religion, [and that] the founders did not intend it to mean no religion in government." Durham is overlooking the fact that atheism is as much a religion as Christianity or Buddhism. Atheism is the religious belief that there is no God, not the lack of a belief in God. With this in mind, the word "God" becomes just as oppressive to Atheists as the word "Jesus" to Jews, and forcing a child to acknowledge the existence of God in a classroom setting is very much promoting state-sponsored religion.

Being both related to atheists and having considered myself an atheist at one time, I would also like to point out the inaccuracy in Durham's implication that atheists somehow differ from other Americans who "were known to be religious men." It is a common misconception that atheists are not religious or moral. As I hear about Catholic priests and Muslim suicide-bombers on the nightly news, I become increasingly aware that all beliefs have good and bad eggs, but my interactions with other atheists have revealed many to be both moral and ethical. I consider their motivation to be very honorable as well: doing the morally right thing for its own sake, not because they are "buying" their way into heaven or some other virgin-ridden paradise.

To a degree, one could argue that generosity and selflessness performed by atheists is the purest form of altruism. Maybe we could all gain a better understanding of our moral worth if we thought for a minute about our motivations before dropping that dollar into the collection plate next Sunday.