In my coverage of Tuesday's inaugural speech, an expert on such orations said Barack Obama's acknowledgment of non-believers was a "first" in inaugural history. But my story and the original headline may not have been sufficiently clear that I was only looking at those speeches delivered on the Capitol steps.

Now, a sharp-eyed reader, Francisco Moreno, has called me out on this. He provided two examples -- albeit not in inaugural addresses -- of President Bush recognizing non-believers.

He points out that I could easily have found Bush's comments in a 2004 press conference following his election, which many political experts said was supported by evangelical voters. Bush said, in part:

... I will be your President regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me necessarily on religion. As a matter of fact, no President should ever try to impose religion on our society. A great -- the great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor ...

Moreno also notes that at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006, Bush said:

In our country, we recognize our fellow citizens are free to profess any faith they choose, or no faith at all. You're equally American if you're a Jew, or a Christian, or a Muslim. You're equally American if you choose not to have faith.

Now, headline has been corrected and I'm a bit wiser, thanks to Moreno. I'm also more curious. Why do we care so much if our president acknowledges our religion -- or lack of one? What if the president leaves a faith off the list?

These are good questions for our Faith & Reason Forum. I'm going to restate the questions over there and invite you to follow. You find the Forum by clicking on the link in the blue bar below my photo. I hope you'll visit often and launch your own questions for discussion there.

Photo by Alex Wong/ Getty Images: President George W. Bush speaks to the media during a news conference November 4, 2004, after his reelection.