On Saturday thousands of Americans will march in Washington, D.C., in hopes of drawing attention to the injustices suffered by more than 25 million people.

The infractions suffered by these people include harassment by passing strangers, forced acceptance of the majority’s beliefs, workplace discrimination and brazen, unapologetic misuse of their taxes. These people are even publicly maligned by societal leaders and elected officials and are denied equal treatment by their government.

When their identities are discovered, society encourages that they should be seen as a dishonor to their families.

In the United States, this group of people, numbering between 8 and 12 percent, is discriminated against just because they happen to hold no belief in or question the existence of a god.

Atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, rationalists and other freethinkers are reminded of their second-class status every time they look at the currency in their pockets, pledge allegiance to this nation, or listen to President Bush speak.

A small group of students from MSU Freethinker Alliance will be traveling to the Washington area this weekend to join the Godless Americans March on Washington.

There we will join many other groups and thousands of individuals in an effort to peacefully demonstrate that we are patriotic Americans as well, and we are no less deserving of an equal voice than any other minority.

Speaking on behalf of MSU’s alliance, I hope by Sunday there will be one less group eligible to be so freely and acceptably mistreated.

Roger Smith
English senior and
MSU Freethinker Alliance president