The incomparable "Conservatarian"Jerry Kane at MillstoneDiaries addresses the debate that has been raging in the comments section since the latest post regarding atheists logically denial of inalienable and unalienable rights as described in our founding documents: 

I have found that atheists are quick to point out the importance of Enlightenment thinking when it comes to the founding principles of this country, but they refuse to recognize the importance of Reformation thinking. Without Reformation thinking, our Revolution would have mirrored France, which resulted in the reign of terror of Robespierre and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. God isn't mentioned in the Constitution because it was written to limit the powers of the federal government, not bestow individual rights. The First Amendment reflects the Founders' thinking demanding freedom of religion (conscience) be sacrosanct. Remember, the amendment demands the people have freedom of religion not freedom from religion.

Liberty means nothing if it doesn’t include the freedom of conscience to believe and practice a particular religion or no religion. Democratic governments have the right to dictate where the line is drawn between religious freedom and civil liberty, that is, church doctrine should not determine laws and laws should not determine church doctrine.

Thomas Paine was an atheist and ousting the specter of religion from political discourse and opinion making was his obsession. Paine attacked organized religion in general and Christianity in particular because he felt that belief in a providential God was harmful to a free society. He once asked Benjamin Franklin to critique an essay in which he argued against believing in Providence “that takes cognizance of, guards, and guides, and may favor particular persons.”

Franklin warned Paine not to publish the piece for it would “unchain the tiger,”do nothing but create enemies, and be of no benefit to others. He cited a French proverb, “He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face,” to point out to Paine's self-destructive, over-reaction to a non-existent problem. Franklin asked Paine, “If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?” He further admonished him saying:

“[T]hink how great a portion of mankind consists of weak and ignorant men and women, and of inexperienced, inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, to support their virtue, and retain them in the practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great point for its security.… You might easily display your excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous subject, and thereby obtain a rank with our most distinguished authors. For among us it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother.”

Franklin chided Paine for bludgeoning religious precepts unnecessarily and for running a fool’s errand in thinking that he could change mankind’s general sentiments on religion. Franklin was not a religious man, but he understood that man is innately a religious creature and this nature can't be conditioned out of him. The tragedy is that Paine refused to accept that simple truth, so he died an unappreciated, broken, frustrated man.

Psalm 14:1 says that the fool hath said in his heart there is no God. An atheist is a fool. To paraphrase Proverbs 27:22, you can beat a fool half to death but you can't beat the foolishness out of him. I heed the Scripture's advice and avoid engaging such people in serious discussion. Remember, atheists don't just say, God doesn't exist; they say they know that God doesn't exist. Unless the atheist has a revelatory road-to-Damascus experience, it's folly to talk with him about God.