Tim_Tex wrote:
Only once has a society put atheism at the front of society.
Albania, between 1967-1990, under the communist rule of Enver Hoxha, completely banned religion in accordance with a very rigid form of communism. This was, to date, the only officially atheist state (as opposed to a secular one). Human rights violations were very frequent (2/3 of Albanians were interrogated by the secret police), and the religion ban was part of an attempt to copy Mao's Cultural Revolution in China.
That said, I certainly welcome atheists (as well as people of faith) to play a role in advancing a secular, democratic society.
That's a very weird definition of "putting atheism at the front of society".
Most atheists and agnostics I know, want a world where people can believe what they like provided those beliefs aren't in any way harmful to others, and no-one assumes any "right" to impose a certain set of religious values on non-believers, or convert them. Law, social morality, political policy-making etc. etc. needn't have anything to do with religion.
Unfortunately most religions don't seem able to comply, which is precisely why I'm so suspicious of them. They're very keen on empire-building, and acting like theirs are the only values that matter. In other words, religions are naturally prone to arrogance and control-freakery. There are some exceptions, Quaker Christians for example, but they're pretty rare.