Wow, Sandy. You were able to read much farther than I was.
I agree. It's pathetic. It's also antithetical to what the Founders of this great nation wanted, which makes it un-American.
While I am as certain that there is no God, just as certain as I presume the Pope is that there is a God, still I am certain that there is a moral truth, that we should all seek out and follow. And I recognize that some of the world's great religions (I do not count Islam among such) have led more people to seek that truth than any other way has. I live in a nation founded by Christians and like minded souls. I am proud and delighted that this is so. No one asks or mandates that I hold the same religion. But my fellow citizens do (or should, or once did) expect that I act in a responsible and moral fashion. As well they should.
When I see the word "God" I tend, rather unconsciously, to read it as "the Moral Truth", and see what sense I can make of a writing that way.
I will grant that the author of this piece probably didn't intend that meaning. But so read, it makes decent sense to me. It hits on the basic issue that divides us, whether the ultimate source of the best truth available is each man's own thoughs and feelings, or whether the truth exists a priori, for us to discover as best we can.
The hallmark of "Political Correctness" is the claim that one man's viewpoint is worth as much as the next. In other words, that there is no Truth which can distinguish between a terrorist and an innocent, between tyranny and freedom.
Janice Rogers Brown described it a whole lot better than I can. See her speech Fifty Ways to Lose Your Freedom,” Speech to the Institute for Justice, Washington, D.C. (August 12, 2000).
I suspect that she too believes in God. I sure hope so, and I hope Bush appoints her to the Supreme Court. She gets it -- good. I tend to only support and vote for public officers who follow a Christian or similar religion. Us atheists have made almost a big a botch of things as have the muslims. We are both an embarrassment to humanity, and a danger to civilization.
It is nothing short of lunacy. Not very rare, though.