Is there a place for atheists in America?

28.06.09, Tom Arcaro, for NEWS & RECORD (US). Ten years ago, few Americans would have thought an African American could be elected president of the United States. Which will be the next minority group to gain this highest level of acceptance? Will we have an openly gay president? A Muslim president? How about an atheist president? In 2006, a University of Minnesota study found that atheists are the least trusted among several categories. In that study, some 40 percent of Americans said of atheists, "This group does not at all agree with my vision of American society." Compare this number to other groups that often experience discrimination, such as Muslims who were next at 26 percent, and gays just after that at 23 percent. Yet, a recent survey by Trinity College in Connecticut found that 15 percent of Americans claim they adhere to no religion, making them the fastest growing group of believers -- or, rather, nonbelievers -- in the United States. The American Religious Identification Survey also found that the number of people who self-identify as "nonreligious" is growing in every state.