Klein's waffling response when called out by peeved secularists didn't help too much. He took the criticism of his reporting as an opportunity to express some personal opinions on religious questions.

Now, it may be true, as Klein notes in his rejoinder, that "organized" secular groups are sparser on the ground than organized religious groups. But that may have more to do with resources than with beliefs. Currently, groups that organize themselves around a professed belief in the supernatural are entitled to a slew of benefits and preferences to which groups that organize themselves around nonbelief are not entitled. Unlike secular nonprofits, for example, houses of worship are assumed to be tax-exempt as soon as they form. This exemption is rarely examined, and is free from the mandatory reporting obligations that are imposed on secular non-profit groups. Religious entities are not required to report their wealth, salaries, or value of their land to any government agency. Houses of worship also obtain exemptions from civil law governing health and safety inspection and workers' rights -- and, not to be forgotten, they derive substantial benefits from the gravy train of "faith-based partnerships." So when Klein called it "funny" that you "don't see organized groups of secular humanists giving out hot meals," it wasn't just demonstrably false--it also, to the extent it described an actual difference, wasn't "funny," in the sense of being particularly mysterious.

Such swipes at secularists are worth attention because they often express a certain assumption that confuses a false sociological observation with a questionable political agenda. The unstated premise is that religion is the most reliable way to organize people to help others. The breakdown of virtue and community feeling in modern America, according to this line of thought, can be attributed to the loss of belief in the supernatural. And the cure to what ails us is to get government out of the way and let religion take over the task of rebuilding our communities.

Although this probably isn't the position of Klein--himself more of a secular centrist--it is the conclusion bound up in much similar rhetoric from political conservativesThe result can sometimes be that public services provided by secular authorities suffer while those provided by religious groups prosper.

Consider the case of Orange County, Florida, for instance, where public schools have suffered $105,443,304 in budget cuts since 2007. Superintendent Barbara Jenkins recently announced the expansion of its outreach to faith organizations, to help with after-school programs, academic tutoring, and more. "Our missions to better our community dovetail when churches, synagogues, mosques, and all faith-based organizations harness the power of volunteerism and servant leadership to benefit the region's youth in schools," she wrote. In many other districts across the nation, the pattern is the same: take money away from public education and then open the door for churches to come in and fill the gap.