Thought some of you would be interested to know that Salman Rushdie wrote a column, originally for the New York Times which then appeared in the Montreal Gazette on Mar 19th, entitled, "The danger of thinking God is on your side."
He begins with, "I never thought of myself as a writer about religion until a religion came after me." His article follows Sam's thoughts as well as many of the thoughts posted here.
Rushdie's main argument is that while religions fail to provide answers to the great questions of life, they "continue to insist that they provide special access to ethical truths, and consequently deserve special treatment and protection." He goes on to mention the increase in irreligion in Europe and then writes, "In today's United States, it's possible for anyone - women, gays, African-Americans, Jews - to run for, and be elected to high office. But a professed atheist wouldn't stand a popcorn's chance in hell."
He ends with a Victor Hugo quote, " There is in every village a torch: the schoolmaster - and an extinguisher: the parson." Makes me think of the movie 'Chocolat.'
The more writers brave enough to publish their thoughts, the better. Isn't there someone here who has a book in the works? 
Susan
