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On his recent visit to Turkey President Barack Obama said: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values." How refreshing! How magnificent! The founding fathers would be pleased.
Our nation is on a path of righteousness, a path away from the religious ignorance and superstition of the past. The change is welcome. For too long our country was bullied and intimidated by the so called "moral majority"; a minority of religious bigots who tried, and are still trying, to turn this country into what it is not, nor never shall be: a theocracy.
Indeed, just this week, Newt Gingrich, hypocrite, adulterer, recent catholic convert, and surprising new poster boy and spokesman for the religious right, said the Obama administration is "intensely secular". The irony is that Gingrich meant the remark as a criticism. As if the alternative, 'a religious administration', was some how more desirable. Funny, I guess Newt forgot about the Constitution, reasons for the American Revolution, and that venerable Wall of Separation between church and state.
The end of Christian America is a welcome change. We must, as a country, and as a species, move beyond the non-sense of religious superstition. The ignorance and intolerance associated with religion must come to an end. Our survival as a country, and a species, depends upon it.