"Better to be hated than ignored." I guess if this is the Church's new corporate mission it's a start. Will they hang this from the front door of Cathedrals or use it in outdoor advertisements? It's pretty catchy.

I doubt the anger is directed at something you like to call "God" though Greg. I think the anger is directed at people who foist their beliefs on others for their own ends.

Take for example, school chaplaincy. My 6 year old is exposed to this "divine intervention in curriculum" once a week. Opt out is not much of an option if you don't want your child ostracised from their peers. "Opt in" is the only true option yet Church Inc. don't have the stomach for that sort of test.

That makes me angry Greg, the pathetic drive for young minds using every political tool at its disposal. "God" ain't the issue Greg, "meddling God botherers" are.

What a load garbage.

Typical of the kind of simplistic straw-man nonsense that the Centre for Public Christianity with its naive mommy-daddy "creator"-God, promotes.
Why not check out these references instead.

http://www.dabase.org/dht7.htm

http://www.adidam.org/teaching/aletheon/truth-god.aspx

http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/gnosticon/culturally_prescribed_god_idea.html

http://www.beezone.com/up/propheticcriticismreligions.html

"I doubt the anger is directed at something you like to call "God" though Greg. I think the anger is directed at people who foist their beliefs on others for their own ends."

That pretty much sum's it up for many of us.

Then you get to disections of the character of the christain god, generally as a response to claims by thiests about how good their god is. Likewise for the Islamic prophet, most could not give a rats about him but when he is help up as an ideal which the rest should aspire to then his shortcomings deserve some highlighting.

Once you step outside belief in the christian god it becomes obvious how much christains have to explain away or pretend it's not there to continue the belief that their god is somehow good or loving.

It's not so much about caring about god, it's the attempts by some christains (muslims and other thiests) to impose their beliefs and the consequences of those beliefs on others.

R0bert

There are enough straw men here to fuel a biomass power station. Misotheism (which by the way my spell check does not recognize), it seems, is a hatred of god or gods. How can one hate something that does not exist? Ipso facto, misotheists must believe in the existence of (at least one) god. Wow! Atheism demolished by creating a single word. Almost a miracle. Oops, does that slip mean I believe in miracles? I guess Greg Clarke might think so. Sorry Greg, I don’t.

My own atheism is simply a lack of belief. I didn’t pick the label, though it is a convenient one. There might be a measure of hostility there but obviously it cannot be towards a god. It must be towards the belief in such gods or more importantly to the consequences of such beliefs. Pretty simple really. Thanks for the chance to reflect.

That might all sound a bit negative. Let me emphasise the positive. “Rejecting God in a public way”, the core target of Greg Clarke’s odd argument, is celebrating a freedom that did not exist when I was young. Religion was an oppressive force. Some of my less timid peers could be open in stating their lack of belief. I was unable to. That was a long time ago. It became progressively easier. Today anyone in this country can be open about their lack of religion. It is still not so everywhere. The public rejecters of gods have led the way in promoting this freedom. More power to them

"I think hating God in this way is far preferable to losing interest in the question of the Divine. I far prefer an angry Atheist to an Apatheist. At least the God-hater still cares."

Atheists are no more angry than any other person. How can an Atheist hate God whom does not exist. The notion is a nonsense. To an Atheist that is like saying denying the existence of fairies must mean you hate them, or the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

Atheists have no interest at all in God per se, it is those who practice this faith that insist on inserting their beliefs into the school system and using the playground as fodder for recruitment.

That is the crux of it no matter how you wish to spin it. The approach taken in this article is a 'head in the sand' denialist approach. That is denial (not wishing to see) to what Atheists are in reality objecting.

There is enough spin in politics, please lets not have it in the debate about secularism.

What bitey, Ho Hum and R0bert said.

I don't hate things which aren't real.

I abhor dogma that some feel they are justified on forcing on people - such as the CRE programs at present. If we remain silent on these infringements into our personal lives then we only have ourselves to blame if the secular state crumbles.

This article is just a weak attempt to silence those who do not share the views of Christianity.