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Are you kidding me? Atheists are the most maligned group of people in America! You are better off claiming to be a child molestor than an atheist if you want to run for public office. Who's being blind-sided by who?

A former president of this country has said that atheists shouldn't even be considered Americans, because this country was founded under god. Again, there is not a more maligned group in America than atheists. I think you need to re-look at this. The plight of non-believers is much worse than you seem to think.

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Aside from difficulties running for office - and I assume we mean national office, here, though state level might be significant too - what is the remainder of the "plight" of non-believers? I must say I don't feel particularly persecuted.

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I know you'll laugh when I give these particular examples... but my wife and I watch Trading Spouses and Wifeswap semi-regularly. They've had several shows where an atheist or person with 'alternative beliefs' swaps with a very religious family. When the atheist or New Age wife goes to the religious community, she is almost always treated with scorn.

As another poster stated, there have been politicians and such who ridicule atheists. We don't for a second think they're isolated freaks. They're representative of a large group.

When I visit my family down south, I would never feel comfortable admitting I was an atheist outside my parents home.

On another TV note - I believe the show "30 days" had an episode where a religious person went to live with an atheist family for 30 days. I seem to recall it was an interesting show where you heard both sides arguing about the negtivity they felt from the other side.