If Southerners Do Not Want To Be Cast As Ignorant Bigots

Then when people try to ban atheists from sitting on the city council, the response should be a question along the lines of, "Are you on drugs?":

North Carolina's constitution is clear: politicians who deny the existence of God are barred from holding office.

Opponents of Cecil Bothwell are seizing on that law to argue he should not be seated as a City Council member today, even though federal courts have ruled religious tests for public office are unlawful under the U.S. Constitution.

Voters elected the writer and builder to the council last month.

“I'm not saying that Cecil Bothwell is not a good man, but if he's an atheist, he's not eligible to serve in public office, according to the state constitution,” said H.K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP president.

It should be noted that H.K Edgerton flipped out some time ago, and can now can be found at Civil War reenactments wearing a Confederate uniform and waving a Confederate flag.

There is a point where you treat "Gums, the village idiot"^* as "Gums, the village idiot," or, by taking him seriously, you become a village of idiots.

^*Virtual Kewpie doll for anyone who gets the reference.