As a humanist I don’t like saying this, but it’s true: By any objective standard, the religious right has been an enormous success. Since Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority first came on the scene in 1979, politically engaged conservative Christians have steadily become more influential, and this has shifted the landscape of American public policy.

This summer has been record-breaking not only in terms of temperature but also in the number of times “religious liberty” has been mentioned in the media.

I’ve attended countless atheist and humanist conferences and never heard anyone justify sexual harassment. But I’ve heard heated discussions about what sexual harassment is. Alas, the god is in the details.

Last month, five conservative legislators, spearheaded by Michele Bachmann, sent letters of alarm to the State, Defense, and Justice Departments as well as the Department of Homeland Security.