Why Are There Republican Atheists?

This is the subject of a post at Atheist Revolution. I have to laugh that anyone would even need to ask that question, but since I happen to be a Republican atheist, I'll answer it. First, I should point out that that vjack, the blogger in question, largely answers the question himself in the post. The question was raised by someone who e-mailed him, not he himself. But in the post he does ask a more specific question:

What is it about the Republican Party that appeals to you so much that you are willing to disregard their stance on church-state separation and other concerns common to atheists?

That's easy. In the spectrum of issues I care about regarding U.S. policy, that one comes in way down the list. On most more important issues, the GOP is either far superior, or at least the lesser of two evils. Although the Democratic party may favor my position on certain issues, taken as a whole, my policy ideas are far more aligned with the Republican party than they are to the Democratic.

In my opinion the supposed danger of the religious right is hysterically overblown on the left. The U.S. as a whole has gotten more secular over the years, not less, and the Christian majority has been diluted. The Christian right is a nuisance, not a serious threat. I view their influence in the GOP as nothing more than an annoyance -- sometimes a major annoyance to be sure -- but nothing that would make me even consider joining the Democratic party, which I oppose in principle on almost every issue other than some social ones. Both parties have their obnoxious fringe elements among their bases. But I'll take the religious right any day over the hardcore anti-American left that infests the fringe of the Democratic base.