I'm not sure whether that should be flagged as off topic, G R. But it is an interesting additional light to throw on the subject.

"...the world has contracted into a mere neighbourhood in which people are instantly aware of each other's affairs and have immediate access to each other..."

I think this is the point where the author of the quote goes off the rails, so to speak. He makes the assumption that technology should enable the world to communicate better, when in fact it only enables them to communicate more. And as we all know, quantity has never been a substitute for quality.

The resultant increase in noise level - think of the combined impacts of Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging etc. - actually serves to separate people into "like" groupings, and discourages communication between groupings. As a result, more and more people are talking more and more, to more and more people who see the world in exactly the same way that they do.

Which makes it unsurprising that the quote also tells us that "races feel more alienated than before and are filled with mistrust, humiliation and fear."

It is almost a "because of", rather than the "in spite of" that he seems to suggest.

I see AJ's puny little fist still waving. Well we have had them in every generation. They are just slightly more vocal these days.

'All Mr Holden’s article appears to be is yet another attempt to rescue God from the redundancy scrap heap. Nothing more.'

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be worshipped long after the arms get tired.

What am I waving my “puny fist” at, runner?

The grotesque monster of the Christian Bible who wants to punish people for its own problems?

The same monster that set mankind up to fail, then impregnated a woman with himself so that he could eventually be sacrificed to himself in order to a save us from what he originally condemned us to in the first place?

I’ll tell you what, runner. If that monster did exist, then I certainly would be shaking my fist at it - no matter how puny.

Christian theology is as repulsive and immoral as the God it’s based around. The concept of compulsory love is immoral; the idea that the bloody sacrifice of someone else can cleanse me of my wrong-doing is immoral and bringing souls into and under such a celestial dictatorship, without asking whether or not they want to be there first or if they agree to such dreadful terms and conditions, is immoral.

<<The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be worshipped long after the arms get tired.>>

With churches losing 200 members a week in Australia alone, I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you.

Graham

Einstein used the label 'God' for the mechanism which makes all possible. He did not believe in an afterlife. The concept of a 'God' which has no interest in the fate of man can make some sense of reality in place of having, for the atheist, a reality which makes no sense at all. Anyway, my submission was just an idea.

Dear runner,

You don't seem to get the idea. Atheists do not hate God. Atheists do not shake their fists (puny or otherwise) at God. Atheists do not get angry at God.

Atheists do not think there is a God. Since there is no evidence that there is a God it is reasonable to think God is nothing but a human invention. It is unreasonable to have any emotions directed to a non-existent being. It is reasonable to direct emotions towards humans who try to push their belief in a non-existent being on other people.

It is reasonable to get angry when the believers in a non-existent being try to interfere with science teaching. It is reasonable to get angry when the believers in a non-existent being try to push their mumbojumbo on little children by having chaplains in the public schools which should be for all children. Schools should help children to learn to examine ideas and information critically. It does not help when people who believe in virgins having babies and other nonsense are allowed to cloud impressionable young minds.

Thank you Brian. You encapsulated my feelings on the subject in a single sentence.