Comment by inejge

> It's like seeing atheists as a bit disabled

They are seen as disabled, i.e., lacking the moral core. An atheist, the thinking goes, can't be a moral person. The US political (if not cultural) mainstream has been anti-secular for quite some time. Remember George Bush Sr? He had a memorable exchange with a reporter during his presidential campaign, where he made his views clear[1]. He was only mildly exceptional in being very direct, not in the way of thinking.

[1] https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_H.W._Bush_and_t...