Atheist President?

Could an atheist be elected President of the USA?  Several years ago, I'd have said it was impossible.  Now, ya never know.  Perhaps this country is finally kicking the religious habit.  Finally.  

I'll be there are some atheists where you work, but they're afraid to "come out."

Not that I put much "faith" in polls, but ...

Majority Of Americans Would Vote For An Atheist For President (POLL)

(RNS) For the second time in less than a year, the Gallup poll reports that a majority of Americans would vote for an atheist for president.

The latest survey, from June, found that 54 percent of those asked said they would vote a "well- qualified" atheist into the Oval Office -- the highest percentage since Gallup began asking the question in 1958, when only 18 percent said they would back a nonbeliever.

http://www.atheists.org/ 

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Indeed, in the current poll, 43 percent said they would not vote for a well-qualified atheist, a percentage that was higher among Republicans than Democrats (58 percent) or independents (56 percent).

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http://ffrf.org/

Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, knows that first-hand. In 1990, he ran for governor of South Carolina where an old law banned atheists like him from holding public office. Silverman lost -- by a landslide -- though his candidacy did lead to the repeal of the law by the state's supreme court.

Silverman, who tells the story of his run for office in his book "Candidate Without a Prayer," says that to push their approval numbers higher, more atheists need to "come out," just as gays and lesbians have done.

"I think prejudices will always be with us, so I am not optimistic enough to think (atheists' approval rating) will be near unanimous," he said. "But I think the more role models we have the better things will be."

Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry magazine, an atheist publication, agrees.

"When you think you don't know any atheists then they seem horrible, but when the person at the desk across from you is an atheist then those stereotypes don't hold," Flynn said.

But he's a glass-is-half-empty guy, too.

"We have to keep in mind that we atheists are still the group that the smallest number would vote for," he said. "We are riding that train into the sunlight of equality, but we are still sitting in the caboose."

Original.