I'm getting sick and tired of all the smears.  One candidate after another resorts to smear tactics because they can't actually make any valid points.  Recently, Elizabeth Dole ran an advertisement saying her opponent was "godless" and that she had attended a "godless" event.  OK, so what's the problem?

 I thought we have freedom of religion in American?  Doesn't that include the absence of religion?  Yes, I said it.  The absence of religion.  Being Atheist isn't a religion.  No more than not believing in Santa Claus is a religion.  But back to the point, is there something wrong with this?  Now, I know these types of smears don't usually occur where someone is actually being called "godless." No, in this nation we've come to recognize that the majority of Americans are Christian.  Standing from the outside of that religion I'll tell you what a Christian is in the larger sense.  It's anyone, from any denomination or church that believes that Jesus Christ died for your sins.  So yes, that covers everyone from Catholic to Evangelical.  But what about the rest of us?

During the last year or more we have heard repeated attempts made to label Obama as a muslim.  Why?  Does it matter?  What's the difference between a Muslim and a Christian?  Nothing from an outsiders point of view.  They both believe something based on a book, they both have their hero or savior, both of them mention something about an afterlife, and both have the moderates and their fanatics.  So what's the difference?  Who cares if Obama was a Muslim.  Are people seriously not going to vote for someone that isn't Christian?  Really, is that what it's all come down to.  No matter how intelligent you are, no matter what your credentials, if you don't believe that Christ is your savior then no one will vote for you.

Sadly, I think the answer is yes.  What kind of country are we that we go on and on about how open we are to diversity.  Even many of the people talking about religious diversity still save a small bit of disdain for those of us that nonbelievers.  But it's interesting to see that in a country that talks about its politicians representing Americans.  We have a hard time voting for anyone that doesn't share the religion that the majority of Americans follow.  From this, I have to say that possibly the most open minded people then are those of us that aren't given that option.  For those of us that are  nonbelievers, those of us that are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and the thousands upon thousands of other religions out there, we are the open minded Americans.  Because it will be a long time, regardless of race, that someone running for president will be able to stand up in front of an audience and in a loud and clear voice declare, "I am not a Christian."  It will be a long time before anyone ever stands at their podium, running for president and says, "I am an Atheist," or, "I am Hindu," or, "I am Muslim."

So, for those of you that perhaps earlier on were maybe going to vote for McCain because, you know, you'd heard that Obama might be a Muslim.  Well, guess what?  You have officially declared yourself bigots.  You are bigotted lot of people that wouldn't have voted for him anyway.  Even if he was a Muslim.  From where I'm standing, I've never gotten to cast my vote for someone that shared my nonbelieving views.  I've never seen a politician that was running for a federal office, or a state office (I'm in California) that would believe what I believe or don't believe.  I've never had that luxery.  No, instead I've had to go the hard route.  Instead of taking an easy label, like religion, I've had to actually listen to those that want my vote.  I've had to pick apart the rhetoric and decide which candidate I thought was the most intelligent.  Not because they agree with my lack of religious beliefs.  No, instead I had to decide based on what they said, what their record showed me, and what other people who had interacted with them said about them.  

This election was pretty easy for me to decide on.  Not because of the smears or the hate tactics.  Simply because I listened.  You are or you aren't a true Christian?  You are or you aren't a true Muslim?  Who cares?  It has nothing to do with my politics, how intelligent you are about the world is what's important.  How much you respect freedom is more important.  Freedom of religion, or no religion.  That's the America that I served for.  Can you bigots out there say as much?