Apparently my invitation got lost in the mail.

Members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics, are gathered this weekend for nonprayer breakfasts and raffles for God-free currency at the group's 30th annual convention.

Despite a new survey that shows most Americans still have negative views toward nonbelievers, it's been a pretty good year for atheism.

The foundation has added thousands of members, is starting a national talk radio show and claimed two legal victories in disputes with states in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a spate of books has been selling across the nation, spreading its message that religion is the root of many evils.

The reason that Atheists believe that religion is the root of many evils, is because without religion there is no "evil". Evil is a term coined by religion to describe anti-social behaviors that they could not understand. This was before we understood how the mind worked, or how other cultures may cling to traditions that seem inhuman to more civilized people.

I have seen many terrible things, but to label them "evil" would have been saying that I don't have the intellectual curiosity to attempt to understand why these things have taken place, and that is not how my mind functions.

And the idea that religious people dislike Atheists is not truly correct. Individually Christians may not have a problem with an atheist co-worker, finding them just as moral and trustworthy as their church going friends. It is when Atheism is described as a "movement", or they read that Atheists are attacking Christmas or other ridiculous news stories, that they get upset.

I actually think the same thing is true of the homosexual community. We are all just people trying to find the joy in our lives and respecting what brings joy to the lives of others.