Even in this secular age, that takes courage. Anti-atheism may be the last acceptable prejudice in monotheistic America. I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. Yet, each session of Congress begins in prayer. Religious testimonies are as common on the American campaign trail as shaking hands and kissing babies.
Religious activists keep trying to turn government buildings into chapels.
And now, the President of the United States wants the federal government to fund religion-based social programs. Johnson and her fellow atheists are fighting more than negative images, but that's where they will have to start. Atheism is, by definition, a negative stance. Atheists are defined by what they are not. A theist is a person who believes in God.