"Us Atheists Want to Celebrate Faith, Too!"

If you're going to hold an interfaith "unity" event, as the Dems are planning to do in Denver, don't forget to invite the faithless. They get cranky when they get left out:

Secular Coalition to DNC: "Unity" Event Should Include Us

Coalition Director Offers to Participate in Democratic Convention's Opening Ceremony

Washington, DC – The chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention Committee, the Rev. Leah Daughtry, has planned an interfaith gathering as the opening event of the Democratic National Convention on August 24, 2008. While it is designed to showcase the "diversity" and "shared values" of the party and achieve a "spirit of unity," it will, in fact, marginalize those Democrats who do not practice religion.

Upon learning of this event, the Secular Coalition for America wrote to Daughtry on July 2, 2008 expressing its concern that an interfaith gathering which excludes nontheistic Democrats is divisive rather than unifying, and also expressed the Coalition's willingness to discuss ways to make the convention more inclusive. Because a recent Associated Press report suggests that Daughtry is considering this concern, the Coalition's director, Lori Lipman Brown, is following up today with a more concrete offer: to fly to Denver herself and participate in the interfaith gathering.

Tens of millions of American voters are nontheists with no god belief, and millions more who practice some religion bring secular values to their political choices. Based as it is on the premise that all values are necessarily derived from religion, this year's Democratic convention leaves atheists, agnostics, humanists and other secular voters feeling increasingly isolated and voiceless. By accepting Brown's offer, the Democratic Party can signal to this constituency that it is serious about being inclusive and tolerant.

Don't they look happy? What a joy it must be to go though life confident there is no God and knowing that when the ol' ticker stops ticking you can look forward to a black void for all eternity. No wonder they're smiling.