Before attending the annual American Atheist convention, which was held over the Easter weekend in Orlando, I had occasion to mention that fact to a couple of groups. The response from them was: "How many will be there -- four?"
The fact of the matter was there were 200 or more.
This, however, typifies most people's conception of atheists. This country is so Christianized that there is little -- and most of the time no -- consideration given to atheists and what they stand for.
The atheist does not believe in a higher power, a supreme being or in a God and all that goes with those beliefs. We do believe that we are entitled to "freedom from religion" and that all others are entitled to their own expression of whatever they may or may not believe, as long as those beliefs do not impinge on our freedoms.
Such is not the case, however, and we are increasingly concerned over the loss of more and more of our freedoms, imposed on our legislators by the religious right.
Our currency once read "e pluribus unum," but now reads "in God we trust." The Pledge of Allegiance has been altered to read "one nation under God," totally ignoring the fact that all citizens do not believe in a God or in the same God.
We are required to swear on a Bible that we do not subscribe to. The Congress of the United States opens its sessions with a prayer to some God. Some of our "equal justice for all" courthouses have plaques or monuments listing the Ten Commandments.
Religious institutions are exempt from taxation, which requires all of us to pick up additional taxation for what they do not pay. Vouchers are becoming more prevalent in granting government dollars to individuals so that they might attend religious schools.
And increased efforts are under way to provide federal dollars to support so-called "faith-based" institutions and to reintroduce school prayer in the classrooms of our public schools.
On the prayer issue, there is nothing to prevent any student, any teacher, any administrator or anyone at all from saying a private prayer before class, before an examination, before an athletic event, at a graduation ceremony or at any other event. The Christian right is not satisfied with that, however, and wants a teacher- or student-conducted prayer.
The atheists object to not having a voice in these matters and we object to being discriminated against along with gays, blacks, Jews, women and many others. We are constantly attempting to have our voice heard.
And we have much difficulty understanding why the vast majority of Americans never come to the place where they question the religious dogma that they were born into.
The author is a resident of Boca Raton.