All kinds of violence and mischief have been wrought by nations which hold that the rights of the governed are granted and denied by the state. No doubt many of the correspondents on these threads are also atheist and yet conservative in political philosophy. But atheists, too, reap the benefit of inalienable rights in this country! IMHO, it would be a disaster for this country to become officially atheistic. It would make it way too easy for the state to take away our rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc. Not heaping praise just to heap praise. But... That is a very good, and very compact description of the what this country should be.
I babble on too much. Sometimes true gems only take a few words/sentences.