The last hurdle

OK, the country elected a black President. It's only a matter of time, I would hope, before we elect a woman President, a Latino President, and so on. But will we ever, ever elect ... an atheist President?

If I were the campaign manager for an atheist running for President, I think I'd want to emphasize:

• humanist ethics and values
• use selected Founding Fathers as models -- Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, discuss religion, free thinking, tolerance in our founding concepts
• emphasize what the Constitution actually says, and doesn't say, about religion
• emphasize Nature and Nature's laws (and Russell's argument about First Causes, if it comes to that)
• put the Bible in historic perspective

Wait for the returns. Get 20% if you're lucky. In other words, never happen, the myth of our origins is too strong. American culture's distrust of "thinking" is too strong.