ARCHBISHOP IN ATTACK ON ATHEISTS

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, said the new phenomenon of "atheistic fundamentalism" in British society was dangerous because it refused to allow any contrary viewpoint and affected public perception of religion.

This approach had led to developments such as local authorities calling Christmas Winterval, the removal of Christian symbols from hospital chapels and schools refusing to put on nativity plays, Dr Morgan said in his Christmas message.

"All of this is what I would call the new "fundamentalism" of our age and any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous, because it allows no room for disagreement, for doubt, for debate, for discussion," he said in his Christmas message.

"It leads to the language of expulsion and exclusivity, of extremism and polarisation, and the claim that because God is on our side, He is not on yours."

Dr Morgan's Christmas message comes after the general director of the Evangelical Alliance, the Rev Joel Edwards, compared militant atheists this week to King Herod in their intolerance of religious faith.

Their remarks follow the rise of militant atheists such as Oxford University scientist Richard Dawkins, whose book The God Delusion, has been a bestseller.