Terrorism. The economy. Immigration. The war in Iraq.

The campaign season leading up to the Nov. 7 midterm elections certainly hasn't been without its contentious issues — indeed, it seems like every possible political debate has seen impassioned pleas from the left and the right.

But for one ideological minority group — atheists — there's a key issue that's been largely absent along the campaign trail: the separation of church and state.

Atheists and other advocates of church-state separation fear that the First Amendment's establishment clause banning government establishment of religion could be upended if Republicans, with their ties to conservative religious groups, keep control of the U.S. Senate.

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THEIR WORRIES

What exactly are these groups afraid might happen?

If the GOP maintains it lead in the Senate, it's possible the Senate Judiciary Committee would hold the door open for a religious conservative to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The scenario isn't that far-fetched: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 86, has been on the bench since 1975 and could be replaced before President Bush leaves office.

"I often say that at the moment, the religious right controls both houses of Congress, the White House and 4 1/2 votes on the Supreme Court," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"They really need a solid fifth vote. And, if there is not a more successful effort to stop the next justice appointed by this president, it could be catastrophic for fundamental constitutional rights."

The Supreme Court in the near future could hear cases dealing with church-state issues such as government funding of faith-based initiatives, gay marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, intelligent design in the classroom, school prayer and religion in prisons.

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RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION

As part of its "American Values Agenda," the GOP-led House in late September passed the "Public Expression of Religion Act" by a 244-173 margin. The bill denies attorneys' fees and monetary awards to a party that wins a civil case based on the First Amendment's establishment-of-religion clause.

"That was absolutely insane," said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, about the bill's passage. "I can't imagine anyone voting for that piece of legislation, which is so unconstitutional."

The bill, which has not been acted on in the Senate, was supported by conservative religious groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition led by the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon. They claimed that the ACLU and other "anti-Christian groups" have taken advantage of the rules with lawsuits, or the threat of costly lawsuits, as part of a campaign to eliminate Christian symbols from government documents, buildings and monuments.

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ATHEISTS: SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS?

Eddie Tabash, a constitutional lawyer and church-state separation activist, said the Supreme Court in its landmark 1947 decision in the Everson v. Board of Education case established that the wall separating church and state "must be kept high and impregnable."

The Everson decision also introduced the concept of neutrality in which the rights of nonbelievers are considered equal to those of believers, Tabash said.

If a religious right-wing majority controls the Supreme Court, Tabash said it could reverse 60 years of case law and "usher in a new era in which government cannot favor one religion over any other but will be able to favor religion, collectively, over non-belief. That is to say, the nonbeliever will become a second-class citizen."

Sheldon, of the Traditional Values Coalition, said in an online letter released Tuesday that federal court reform will die if Democrats take over the Senate.

"The goal of reforming the federal bench and placing judicial conservatives on the bench is one of the most important efforts conservatives have ever undertaken in the past 60 years," Sheldon said. "If we fail, the horrors of judicial tyranny will multiply like bodies in a Freddy Krueger movie."

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BY THE NUMBERS

So what exactly are American atheists up against?

Results of a 10-nation AP-Ipsos poll released in June 2005 showed high levels of religious devotion among people in the United States.

Seventy percent of U.S. respondents in the AP-Ipsos poll said they know God exists and have no doubts about it. Only 2 percent said they did not believe in God. In contrast, 19 percent of South Korean and French respondents said they did not believe in God.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents in the United States said religious leaders should try to influence policymakers. In France, 85 percent said they were opposed to political activism by clergy — the strongest opposition in any country polled.

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Paul Chavez is an asap reporter based in Los Angeles.

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