An Atheist as President of the United States?

There is a terrible stigma associated with atheism in the United States, as if reasonableness were some kind of sickness that should be subject to quarantine. There is so much talk about whether we will see a female president or black president in our lifetime, but wholly ignored is the fact that any politician who identifies himself as an atheist stands no chance at reaching the nation's highest office. Of course, it is quite possible that there have been atheistic presidents, just none that came out of the closet, so to speak. They end every speech as an American president must: "God bless the United States of America." Will this change in our lifetime? Will an "out of the closet" atheist ever be elected President of the United States?

Ron Reagan, Jr., son of the late former United States President Ronald Reagan, doesn't seem to think so. When asked in an interview with Larry King whether he would ever run for office, he stated: "No, I'm not really cut out to be a politician... I'm an atheist. So there you go right there. I can't be elected to anything because polls all say that people won't elect an atheist."

In an interview with the New York Times, Ron Reagan, Jr. expressed the same sentiment when asked whether he would like to be president of the United States: "I would be unelectable. I'm an atheist. As we all know, that is something people won't accept."

The terrible truth is that Ron Reagan, Jr. is absolutely correct. Americans will not elect an atheist who doesn't hide his beliefs. In fact, atheism carries such a stigma in the United States that most Americans will not even conceal the fact that they wouldn't vote for a candidate who declared he was an atheist. If an American stated outright that he or she would not vote for a candidate because the candidate was a woman, an African-American, or a Jew, that American would be criticized, ostracized, called a hateful bigot. But if that same American were to say that he or she would not vote for an atheist, there would be no such backlash. And sadder still, most Americans would agree.