We applaud President Obama in trying to move our government and our people away from use of religion as a divisive political tool.  A good deed is a good deed, whether the motivation is secular or faith-based.  Religious organizations might reasonably make use of government funds to help them carry out good deeds in a secular manner, if they keep finances transparent and if they help people and communities without proselytizing and without discriminating against those who do not share their beliefs.  We urge the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to specifically include non-believers and humanist organizations on their Council and ensure that equal opportunity is provided to non-faith groups to work with this office.  We feel that extending a welcome to secular humanists will help yield further positive change toward supporting practical compassionate work in our neighborhoods, communities, and country.

…We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers.”

Also much to be admired in the inaugural speech:

We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.  We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of the new age.”

As both an atheist and a member of the healthcare community, I couldn’t be happier that there now resides in the White House a man who understands that the dictates of dogma do not shape our policy, and that science in its pure form is the way forward for humanity as a whole, rather than relegating it to the dank basement of religious suspicion. We can take heart that intelligence and emphasis on examination, evaluation and education will once again be the hallmarks of the Presidency.

I look forward to the coming years, and to doing my part.

The first of the four prayers, delivered by Rev. Gene Robinson has only a meager 5 mentions of god, but here’s hoping…

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears — for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger — at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort — at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience — and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility — open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance — replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity — remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer. — Anonymous

Today, President-elect Obama and people across the globe committed themselves to service, and volunteered their time and effort in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.