I’m so disappointed with Elizabeth Dole. I’ve always liked her and thought she was a decent, honorable person — certainly not the mean-spirited prick her husband turned out to be. But her “godless” ad in North Carolina struck me as really despicable. It is so beneath a woman of Dole’s (former) stature to resort to this sort of thing:

Most people who object to this ad do so because they consider “godless” to be a pejorative, and certainly the ad uses it that way. I think it’s sleazy and tasteless to attack anyone’s religious beliefs or non-beliefs. In a country that reveres and codifies freedom of religion, I’m always saddened to see Americans attack each other over religion.

What bothers me even more is the clear implication that there’s something wrong with being “godless.” Reportedly Hagan has never said, “There is no God,” but what if she had? It’s not a crime in this country to be an unbeliever.

Personally I agree with the man in the ad who says yes, he would take “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s supposed to be a pledge of allegiance to our flag and country, not to God. It’s exclusionary and needlessly offensive to non-believers. Ditto “In God We Trust” on American money. There are plenty of Americans who don’t trust in God. Lots of “good Christians,” of course, think non-believers are offensive. (Seems to me they would take pity on such people, but that’s just me.)

In my own little book of unwritten rules and manners, you don’t flaunt religion and you don’t attack religion. You live and let live. You treat other people (and their beliefs) with respect and dignity, in the same way you would want to be treated.

At what age does “plays well with others” stop being the mark of a good citizen?