Trump's inauguration was stomach churning enough already, but in my view, what was far more horrifying was the fact that the presidential inauguration is, in 2017, still chocked full of religious benedictions and prayers. Thomas Jefferson must be spinning in his grave.

There is supposed to be a figurative wall of separation between church and state. As I often point out, it is only by this wall that we are guaranteed freedom of religion in the United States. And yet, this wall has never been more than a weak, crumbling fence. Regardless of anyone's religion or spiritual views, religion must have no place in our government, laws, and public policies. "One nation under god" in the pledge is not a separation of church and state. "In god we trust" on the money is not a separation of church and state. Prayers and benedictions at the presidential inauguration is not a separation of church and state. Requiring legals oaths in government institutions to be taken while placing one's hand on a bible is an embarrassing and archaic tradition that should have died out when our country was founded.

The horrific truth is that, beyond the invention of some pretty nifty gadgets, little has changed since the time of ancient Greece. Compare the following two clips; the first, a scene from a movie depicting ancient Greece, and second, the benediction from Trump's inauguration:

(The first 30 seconds or so of this one will suffice.)

There is little difference between these two scenes. Imagine the change in tone, the change in reaction, the change in the world, if Reverend Graham had substituted the word "Apollo" for "god". Imagine if the reverend stated that Poseidon had blessed Trump's family, administration, and presidency. Think for a second about what that would have done to the good Mr. Graham's reputation, as well as Mr. Trump himself, and most of the people involved with the inauguration. I don't think I need to elaborate or extend this analogy any further. It should be quite clear how such a statement would be received at a presidential inauguration. And yet, what was said is absolutely no different. The names have been changed. That's it. There's no more evidence for the existence of the biblical god than there is for gods of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, or anywhere else. It's not like at some point along the way, humanity disproved Zeus but not the god of Abraham. This was not a discovery made in the third century. The fact that a moment from the presidential inauguration of 2017 can sound essentially exactly like a scene from Troy should terrify every one of us. It certainly terrifies me. Go watch Troy. Right now. That's basically our world. Give everyone in Troy a smart phone, and that's the world we're living in. There's really no fundamental difference. Anyone who believes that this is a great exaggeration is either delusional, grossly ignorant, or willfully blind.