Christian ethics

Dear Editor
Reading the editorial in the Tribune for June 17 by Randy Vlatch it would seem that the people who claim atheism live in fear of the US becoming a Christian nation. This cannot happen because of the constitution in the first place and because of the nature of the population. Every time some person in a school or public position makes an effort to pray they protest. We will however, I hope, continue to be a nation which is founded on and tries to live by Christian ethics.
I would presume that most atheists generally also live by generally the same ethics that most Christians do whether they admit it or not. I wonder what system they would rather live under, Islam or perhaps Buddhism, or perhaps some form of tribal religion.
When our nation was founded the founders had a choice on how they wanted to be governed and they chose to live under the  form similar to what they had left but they wisely chose to make the government responsible to the people instead of the people being responsible to the government. They realized that government has to be limited by the people being governed. They made some mistakes regarding slavery but it was either that way or no way. They felt that corrections could be made and they were. Some of the states tried to define state religions but that did not work.
Living a Christian life requires a certain amount of effort, self restraint, and dedication which many people do not want to expend. It is much easier and often more pleasurable to live by unrestrained standards. There are many people who are not members of any church but they have an innate sense of what is right and wrong because of how they were raised.
I have not noticed any of the atheists trying to propose a better system.
Don Thorson