Why won't the U.S. accept its atheists?

To be godless in America is to count oneself among an ostracized minority:

A now famous University of Minnesota study concluded that Americans ranked atheists lower than Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society”. Nearly 48 per cent said they “would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group” (many more than the next most unpopular category, Muslims, at 33.5 per cent). No wonder atheist groups talk of modelling their campaigns on the civil rights, gay and women’s liberation movements. It is not that they claim their persecution is on the same level but that they suggest the way forward requires a combination of organising and consciousness-raising. “We want people to realise that some of their best friends are atheists, some of their doctors, and lawyers and fire chiefs and all the rest of them are atheists,” says [the philosopher and atheist Daniel] Dennett.

(Video: "Hundreds of non-believers gather in the US Bible Belt for the Texas Freethought Convention, with Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins the star attractions.")