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Now let’s turn our attention to another area that McGrath raises. Specifically, the lack of "charismatic leadership" that he has obviously decided atheists and secularists must have in order to prevail, and without which we will eventually fail. What makes him and other Christians believe that we must have one leader to bring us all together? Who made the rule that a spiritual philosophy cannot have many prominent spokespersons to promote the benefits and values of reason over dogma? Again, it would appear that only the religious hard-liners have created this "rule," which atheists and secular humanists have no intention of observing. Since we are perfectly capable of deciding for ourselves who to read or listen to, there is no need to rely on just one or a select few to provide ideas that we can agree on. I would probably have disagreed with O’Hair, but I strongly agree with three now-deceased giants of reason, which in my view are Thomas Paine, Robert Green Ingersoll and Bertrand Russell. I also agree with Paul Kurtz, Editor in Chief of Free Inquiry, and the other contributing editors and writers, who are very much alive. All of whom make excellent leaders, in my book, and who aren’t required to go on speaking tours in order to "draw large numbers of people."

It isn’t the first time that I have read articles either reporting or predicting atheism’s eventual demise, either in printed journals or online forums. But I have to wonder why they make such a point of denouncing atheism and secular humanism to begin with. After all, if they are as secure in their faith as they would have us believe, why would the voices of religious non-believers matter in the least? Unless you consider the hidden reason; the fact that there may be more doubters of religion in their camp than hard-line Christians would care to admit. Free Inquiry also reported that between 1993 and 2002, the Protestant proportion of the American population, which until recently had maintained a majority, had dropped from 63 to 52 percent, and that analysts expect the figure will drop to below 50 percent by 2005. No doubt this makes some Protestant and Catholic and other mainstream religious leaders a bit disturbed, and possibly very concerned, that their cherished dream of a "Christian nation" may never come to pass. For citizens who value secular liberty over religious slavery, the failure of that dream is a very good thing indeed.