Letter: Standing up for atheism

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001 | 9:03 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan, the Las Vegas Sun executive editor, felt free in a recent column to disparage my beliefs by referring to atheists in foxholes as people who make promises and concessions under pressure that they don't mean. What?

I think Mr. O'Callaghan should realize that atheists comprise 10 percent to 15 percent of Americans and 26 percent of Las Vegans. We are professors, lawyers, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, members of the armed forces, common citizens and readers and subscribers to the Sun.

We are as dedicated to our ideology and beliefs as any Christian or Muslim. We do not appreciate being stereotyped or insulted. My brother was an atheist in a foxhole in Vietnam. I think Mr. O'Callaghan and the Sun owes us all an apology.

SHIRLEY BRAVERMAN

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