Like many secular progressives, Farrell thinks atheism is safer, more rational, like the Soviets in the Cold War. In his belief that his religion is true, Hume is much more like Islamic zealots who strap bombs to themselves, who we now fight in what he called the Long War:
The Cold War was fought against cruel Commie atheists who—we were warned by our leaders at the time—had no fear of God's wrath because they simply didn't believe in Him. But we survived because, it turned out, the faithless Russians and Red Chinese had no more of an appetite for nuclear incineration than we did.
In the end, the lack of a prospect for celestial paradise made the Communists, despite their weaponry, slightly less scary than our foes in the Long War, who are true believers.
It takes a religious zealot to strap explosives around his or her waist and, murmuring prayers, blow up a CIA facility in Afghanistan, or take down an airplane over Detroit, or steer a jet into the World Trade Center. Or, for that matter, to treat the world to Crusades and Inquisitions and the kind of faith-based savagery we've seen in places like Belfast, Bosnia, Beirut, and Jerusalem.
That is what made Brit's comments so creepy: the self-certainty that "my god is better than yours."
Hume has the right to yak. People get paid to say all sorts of provocative things these days. I have no doubt that some of his best friends are Jewish, or Buddhist, or of a different Christian denomination. I am sure he loves all wogs, in his way.
But, jeez, what a stupid thing to think.
