Opinion piece from Boston Metro and New York Metro

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) has come out of the closet, but not in the way we typically use the term. Stark, who, last fall, accepted the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy’s “Humanist of the Year” award, is the first congressman in history to openly acknowledge his atheism.

The lawmaker’s public disclosure of nonbelief comes at a time when books by so-called “New Atheist” authors — Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Tufts professor Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens — are topping bestseller lists.