MOBILE, Alabama - A national atheist organization is calling for an apology from Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins over a video he emailed to students and staff that drew a connection between religion and democracy.

In a letter to Hawkins addressed Dec. 31, American Atheists President David Silverman wrote that a student at Troy was concerned about the chancellor's distribution of the 90-second video, which Silverman said "asserts that religion, particularly Judeo-Christian beliefs, are necessary to be moral, law-abiding citizens, and implies that those who do not attend church will be anti-democracy and anti-social members of society."

The letter asks "for a public apology to the student, and other atheists whom you have disparaged with the video you included in your email."

The video emailed by Hawkins depicts Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen - a Mormon who is open about his faith -- commenting on a conversation he had with a Marxist economist from China regarding democracy and religion. In the video, Christensen quotes his friend saying that he was surprised by "how critical religion is to the functioning of a democracy."

"My friend went on to say that Americans followed these rules because they had come to believe that they weren't just accountable to society; they were accountable to God," Christensen says in the video.

He adds that the man expressed concerns that "as religion loses its influence ... what will happen to our democracy?

"Where are the institutions that are going to teach the next generations of Americans that they too need to voluntarily choose to obey the laws? Because if you take away religion, you can't hire enough police," he says.

Hawkins was not available for comment Wednesday, and it was not clear whether the chancellor had seen the letter. The video was attached to an end-of-the-year email in which Hawkins said he was "reminded of the blessings we enjoy within a democracy which is the envy of the world."

In the letter from American Atheists, Silverman asserted that atheists make up 11 percent of the population in Alabama. "Atheists are overwhelmingly ethical and upstanding people," Silverman wrote. "It is not true that religion is necessary to keep people from becoming criminals."

American Atheists is based in Cranford, N.J.