Reason Rally Poem. March 24, 2012. Washington, D.C., by Edwin Kagin © 2012.

We are here to make history.
To say we do not like to be punished
If we do not believe in your god of love.
We do not want to be denied the right
To sit on juries, or to take an oath to tell the truth;
We do not want to be barred from public office.
Because we do not believe as you believe
Because we reject a supernatural world that you embrace.
Know now, our fellow citizens who do not trust us,
We are the most despised group in America,
We are not believed in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Today, we stand to say “Enough!”
Here we are.
Look at us!
We are those evil atheists and other fellow travelers.
Among you whom you fear without reason.
Against whom you discriminate without cause.
We are those whom you injure by hatred.
There is nothing special about atheists.
We have families, and jobs, and children, and grandchildren.
We are here, and we are part of “We the People.”
A big part.
More than you know.
More than you would believe.
Atheists are on their feet and off their knees
To “come out” to tell you they do not believe.
That it is okay to be an atheist.
That it is okay not to believe in a god.
Because our nation was set up that way.
We only ask that you do not continue
To try to make your catechism our creed.
We ask that you do not continue
To defile the graves of our martyrs.