No God Doesn't Mean No Beliefs

"We are all disbelievers in something, but he's also very much aware that humanism is a positive life stance, potentially an extremely inspiring one," Epstein said. "He talks about his mother as the great moral shaping influence in his life, and he talks about her as a lonely song for secular humanism. We have a president who is a Christian, who was raised by a humanist."
But then, how should one respond when faced with demonization?

"Does one turn the other cheek?" Epstein asked. "Or does one lash back with a rhetorical sword? Or is there another way entirely? I believe very strongly there is a better way, and that is to affirm who we are and to be willing to be very public in our promotion of what is good and right, and to work hard in promoting what is good and right, and then to recognize the good people out there with whom we disagree about theology, and offer our friendship and respect — and simply ask for theirs in return.
"I'm trying as hard as I can to be that radical moderate."

SHOOT: Interesting.

clipped from www.courant.com Earlier this year, Trinity College released its American Religious Identification Survey, which said 34 million Americans — including atheists and agnostics — are not affiliated with any faith group. Their numbers are growing. Since the secular boom of the ' 90s, the ranks have been swelling by hundreds of thousands each year. Their rejection of religion is met with mistrust from their religious brothers and sisters anchoring the pews. A 2006 University of Minnesota study found that Americans put atheists last on a list of people who "share their vision of American society." Epstein's new book, "Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligous People Do Believe," explains the moral code of people neither frightened by the threat of hellfire nor blissed out by the promise of heaven. Nonbelievers, writes Epstein, can live ethical lives without the framework of religion because it is the practical and right thing to do.