For years I've shook my head at the multitude of horror stories of good, honest,  God-fearing Christian Americans (eg. true descendents of our Founding Fathers) being persecuted by a wicked society in the throes of radical secular humanism.  Maybe its being married to a Methodist minister or just an inkling that many conservative Christians want to feel persecuted so as to achieve the kind of unimpeachable moral authority and martyrdom that we associate with the Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's? 

No matter, it really comes down to something I realized several years ago watching various political campaigns; it is absolutely impossible for a political candidate in this country to run and win political office if they are an avowed atheist or proudly do not ascribe to any religious faith whatsoever.  One would think that if society was so cruel to Christians and other people of faith, that this wouldn't be the case.  Nevertheless, a University of Minnesota study suggests that self-avowed Atheists are somewhere between Dick Cheney and Islamic terrorists in terms of popularity...which is pretty low.  Kevin Drum tries to massage the numbers but it still looks bad for the non-believers among us.