Kevin is correct, I'm an atheist. I'm also a human. Part of my
job (such as it is) is to try to come up with aliens that are at least
fairly realistic, and treat them with respect. How then is it any
different for an atheist to treat religion with respect? Particularly
when that is all that most atheists request from religionists...that we
be treated with respect (as opposed to our good old pal George Bush, who
at a Chicago airport news conference, said in answer to a question that
he didn't think atheists could really be considered patriots since this
is supposed to be one nation under god).

Many people seem to have commented here on the notion that it is
remarkable to see an atheist treating religion as much as it gets treated
here, and as well as it gets treated here. As Kevin originally pointed
out in his note, we deal with the issue a *lot*, generally in positive
ways. I don't think it's remarkable at all. A writer's job is to be
honest, and try to avoid skewing stories to meet some personal agenda.
Religion has been with us for thousands of years, and it ain't going
away tomorrow or the day after or in the next 250 years. Individual
religions may come and go, but the totality of it...no. Won't happen.

In addition, on one level it must be respected, if I chose privately
to disagree with it: it is one more reflection of humanity's desire, its
need to understand the universe around us. Early man was stunned by the
sheer wonder of the world around us, stumbled for some way to explain it
...and, not being able to lay one's hand on a microscope, or an atom
smasher, or a copy of the Origin of Species, turned to the only tools
around at the time. The instinct, to explain stuff, is exactly the same
instinct that drives any scientist or rationalist; only the methodology
and means of codification vary. The religious explanation remains
carved in stone (or tablets), where the scientific explanation is in a
constant state of re-examination and flux. But the intent behind both
is the same.

I do not tolerate religious extremists. Neither do I tolerate
atheist extremists. This nation was forged in the fires of diversity,
and it is in a multitude of voices that you can hear the true sound of
this nation. Or, put slightly differently....do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.

jms