Atheists Prove They're a Religion

It's always amusing for an outsider to see the way in which Americans treat their constitutional documents as a sacred text, and then the knots into which they get tied when said sacred text seems to forbid taking any text as sacred. The separation of church and state is not just a doctrine about religion – it is one treated with the respect due to a sacred doctrine.

A decision late last week by the supreme judicial court in Massachusetts – that children may pledge allegiance to their nation "under God", since no one is forced to do so – has cast light on what this twisted separation means in practice. Conservative websites are howling about how "atheists failed"; humanists will appeal. But, indeed, the court's opinion is remarkably sniffy about humanism: