Democratic Underground - Atheists need to come up with "better answers" to be accepted

I'm posting this in GD instead of R/T or the Atheism forum because I want to get a wider range of opinions about it.

Please read the article and tell me what you think.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071115/news_lz1e15ghorpad.html

excerpt:

Atheists are evolving, too

If atheists are going to band together and seek a place in society's governance, the question inevitably arises: What do you have to offer as a group in the form of public policy ideas that are an improvement over what already exists? And on this critical issue there is a problem; it is nicely captured by Austin Cline of the Council for Secular Humanism. He points out that atheism currently is a minor “ism” or “a state, condition, attribute or quality” of an individual such as heroism, pauperism and astigmatism rather than a major ism or “. . .a distinctive doctrine, theory, system or practice,” such as in liberalism, communism and Catholicism. As of now, atheism is a way of thinking about certain aspects of the world – it emphasizes rational, critical and independent thinking without relying on creeds, dogmas, tradition or emotion. The central challenge faced by atheists is that they need to provide better answers to questions endemic to the human condition: Who are we? Where did we come from? How shall we live our lives? How should society be organized? Where are we going after death?

My initial reaction is, hell no, I need to do nothing of the sort. All I ask--like any other minority--is equal treatment. To proudly announce that half the country now tolerates me is pretty insulting, but to then demand that my price for a seat at the table is to answer the unanswerable fundamental questions of human existence is disingenuous to say the least.

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