@Janet — You see Janet, while religion may offer comfort to believers, those same believers are also apt to attempt to
force their beliefs on non-believers (not to mention other believers who happen to hold different beliefs), enlisting our secular government to do so.
The answer is that the Christian right in our country is constantly trying to
force their religious
beliefs into the public sphere (science education, school prayer at public schools, Decalogue displays at court houses, nativity scenes
on city hall property, crosses in all kinds of public places, national days of prayer, etc.)-- if these things stopped, the outcry from us
non-believers would be greatly diminished.