Atheists to start Georgia lobbying group

"Some of the most egregious legislation concerning the co-mingling of religion and government is coming from the state level," SCA spokeswoman Lauren Anderson Youngblood said of the push, which marks a significant expansion effort for the small, 10-year-old group based in Washington D.C. "It's going to be a challenge to organize chapters in the Bible Belt but every state has its issues."

To buoy its point, the group points to a 2009 analysis by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. Using state-by-state polling data from an earlier study, it said nearly one-third of Georgians did not rank religion as being important in their lives; 19 percent did not have a certainty of belief in God.

Stated a different way, however: Religious commitment remains high among the state's residents.

"Respect and tolerance is a two-way street," said state Sen. Bill, Heath, R-Bremen, who sponsored a bill this year to provide "In God We Trust" license plate stickers free of charge to registered motorists. Gov. Nathan Deal signed it and it goes into effect July 1. The SCA said the bill was an example of religion being inserted into secular government, a charge at which Heath scoffed.

"We are not forcing anyone to display or purchase this sticker, just as we are not forcing members of this atheists’ group to practice a certain religion," he said. "There seems to be a certain disrespect with groups such as this when it comes to allowing free-minded citizens to make an independent decision that does not coincide with their own philosophy."

Still, the effort has support among several like-minded groups already here. They hope it not only raises their visibility, but awareness that "the freethought and secular communities within the state of Georgia are an active, educated, informed and key voting block within the ... electorate," said Alton Roane Jr., chapter leader for the National Atheist Party of Georgia.