In her New York Times article on April 26, 2009, More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops, Laurie Goodstein writes about a growing movement among Atheists to go public with their views and hopefully attract a larger following of secular humanists. In Charleston, South Carolina, the movement has gained significant momentum and the group known as the Secular Humanist of the Low Country decided it was time to expand their movement to a national level. According to the article, the group claiming “no religion” is the only demographic to increase in all 50 states in the last 18 years. This reflects a decrease in the number of Mainline Protestants throughout the United States. This also illustrates the growing secularization of the American Population.

Goodstein also writes about how atheists are attempting to improve their public image. Herb Silverman, the founder of the Secular Humanist of the Low Country, compares going public as an atheist with the gay rights movement, and that someone who openly states they are an atheist has “come out of the closet.” As more atheist surface it will create a whole new “religious” group which will have a significant impact on American politics. Many atheists, according to the article, became upset with the way George Bush supported the religious right.

As a result the atheists have attempted to become more unified. By doing this they can begin lobbying in Washington in attempt to gain influence in political decisions. They hope to promote separation of church and state. Already they have seen relative success, as shown by President Obama’s inauguration speech in which he mentioned non believers. However, with their success it is more than likely this will create a situation in which mainline protestants and other Christian groups will attempt to unite together in order to negate the influence gained by atheists. So while there is optimism for atheists in politics, they still have a significant uphill battle.