The poison of unthinking religious fanaticism

Atheism is one of the most brainless religions I know of. And it is particularly sad when it has a hold of an otherwise courageous and principled person, such as, in this case, one of Britain's few admirable journalists, Nick Cohen. I have a lot of time for this man, but unfortunately, having inherited atheism from two generations of revolutionary forebears, he is completely incapable of being rational whenever he sees a member of any opposing religion. And so, to my complete disbelief, he has just published an article basically treating Climategate as a right-wing ramp. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/06/nick-cohen-global-warming-conservative-backlash What is terrible about this is that Cohen is an honourable man who has time and again gone against his own party for the sake of his principles. But in this case principles curdle into blinding obsessions and simply prevent him from even taking a look at the evidence. It has been tainted by the unholy hands of Sarah Palin and Tony Abbott, and so, by definition, it is beyond the pale and no decent man can read it without being corrupted! Heart-breaking.