This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As a believer of the Christian variety, this Thanksgiving season, I thank nonbelievers.

Thank you for not trying to place on public land 12-feet-tall memorials that are symbolic of your unbelief.

Thank you for not insisting that public meetings begin with an exercise that relegates believers to "outsider" status. You seem to understand that attempting to shove your nonbelief down our throats in this way would be, well, unchristian.

Thank you for not trying to place monuments engraved with 10 rules of disbelief in public parks, while demanding that monuments expressing different views be excluded.

Thank you for never making these kinds of demands, because if you did and were rejected, you might develop a persecution complex and go to court. This, of course, would waste tax dollars and result in endless bickering.

In short, thank you for living the golden rule (behaving toward others as you want them to behave toward you).

Steve Warren

West Valley City