As you may remember, Carl Silverman sent a report from a church rally where he said he heard an Obama aide make negative comments about atheists. This was posted on this blog and is just down the page.The Obama Camp has acknowledged that the comments were made, but insists they were made by the church people, not by the Obama Camp. There is still dispute over this, but everyone agrees that the Obama camp did not rebuke the comments, and really should have.Mr. Monteiro called me to make a statement:

?We talk about people of good will and good intent, and we strive to highlight the values that we share across lines ? values like accountability, responsibility, honesty and transparency. We?ve done over 200 Values Forums across the country, and at these forums we were talking to atheists and secular humanists as well as people of faith. Those conversations revealed that we can all agree, across faith lines, on these and other basic American values. These values are accessible to all people of good will. That?s what these forums are all about?I asked: ?Does your office include atheists???Being a grass roots movement, there are tons of volunteers across the country and many are people of faith or atheists or secular humanists. I think Senator Obama said it best when he said that ?religious people do not have a monopoly on morality?. Senator Obama is trying to navigate this contentious landscape to bring people of all faiths, including no faith, together to help address the common challenges all Americans are facing right now.??We have a clear desire to be as inclusive as possible, and to bring every American to the table. Senator Obama is serious about bringing people of all traditions into this effort, and we want to make sure that this message is made clear.? I asked: ?Is there anything else you?d like to say to the nonreligious population???We are asking for all people of good will to support Senator Obama. He is serious about bringing people of all traditions together to address the issues facing America.??

We at American Atheists don’t endorse candidates, nor do we favor them. If/when John McCain’s camp calls to solicit the nontheistic vote, I’ll post it here.