“Lighten Up” is letter writer Shawn Childers’ suggestion to atheists and agnostics, and presumably we who are not religious (Letters, April 25-May 2).

Well now, just who really needs to lighten up?

Atheists are not controlled and ruled by unmarried men in Italy; atheists do not go door to door urging people to abandon religion (or take it up); atheists do not get into politics to try to change state or federal constitutions; atheists do not sit on the Supreme Court and tell women what to do when pregnant; atheists have never abused young boys by the thousands; atheists are not interested in introducing “unintelligent (my word) design” in public schools; atheists threaten no one with invented “heavens” and “hells” or “judgment days”; agnostics are reasonably sure most Christians read only biblical passages that are not offensive, and never read the very many that are.

I could go on. Let the religious lighten up and stop injecting THEIR slogans on MY money, and altering pledges to suit their religious agenda.

What’s more, atheists and agnostics would never waste billions of dollars on buildings and bribes to get to their “heaven,” wherever in the world that is.

What we do worry about is that some out-of-state residents will think our pious license plate is our designated state plate. Ugh!