A: By the time this current issue sees the light of day, the controversy surrounding Dole’s attack ad will probably be settled. Everyone has already chimed in on this, so I’m not saying anything new when I say that the ad was dumb and pathetic.
One thing folks aren’t really asking is: What’s so bad about atheists? I mean, I’m not an atheist, but if someone is an atheist who gives a shit? I don’t see how a person’s lack of religious belief should be a strike against them. Same thing goes for elected officials who may be Muslim. How does following Islam make you less of a politician? Bottom line: It doesn’t.
Hopefully, one day, we’ll get to a point in this country where people can hold different views without being turned into pariahs.
This article appears in Nov 4-11, 2008.
