richard_dawkins_-_the_god_delusion

THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 39
although it has been argued that the greatest of them might have
been atheists. Certainly their writings on religion in their own time
leave me in no doubt that most of them would have been atheists
in ours. But whatever their individual religious views in their own
time, the one thing they collectively were is secularists, and this is
the topic to which I turn in this section, beginning with a - perhaps
surprising - quotation from Senator Barry Goldwater in 1981,
clearly showing how staunchly that presidential candidate and hero
of American conservatism upheld the secular tradition of the
Republic's foundation:
There is no position on which people are so immovable as
their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one
can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah,
or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any
powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf
should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are
growing throughout our land are not using their religious
clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government
leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you
disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral
issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of
money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the
political preachers across this country telling me as a
citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe
in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And
from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate
their moral beliefs to me? And lam even more angry as a
legislator who must endure the threats of every religious
group who thinks it has some God-granted right to
control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am
warning them today: I will fight them every step of the
way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all
Americans in the name of conservatism. 19
The religious views of the Founding Fathers are of great interest
to propagandists of today's American right, anxious to push their