Joe Cunningham: “George Washington was quoted as saying, ``An atheist is a person with no invisible means of support,'' and I think that…”

“George Washington was quoted as saying, ``An atheist is a person with no invisible means of support,'' and I think that that person that brought this lawsuit forward, I do not think, I know, he has got the right to feel like he does; but it is also our right to detest that particular point of view. We stand here today, I do not care if someone is a Christian, Muslim, Jew, I think to denounce that decision that was made in Ninth Circuit Court, and I would tell my colleagues, there was a time in my own life, I was raised in a Christian family, had to go to church every Sunday. When I got out on my own, I could not say that I actually knew that there was a God at one time. On May 10, 1972, over the skies of Vietnam, my aircraft was hit with a surface-to-air missile and the airplane started going out of control, and it actually rolled upside down; and like many people, the only time I would ever ask for God's help was when I was in trouble. I remember thinking, God, get me out of this, I do not want to be a prisoner of war or die. The airplane righted itself as I took the stick and put it to the left side, and I remember thinking, God did not have anything to do with this, it was just my superior flying skills that righted this airplane; but about that time, the airplane went back upside down, and I remember thinking, God, I did not mean it, get me out of here.”