Chris Patten: Atheists Are “Intolerant of Those Who Have a Faith”

After accusations of bias against Christianity at the BBC, the BBC Trust Chairman Christopher Patten has underlined atheists' lack of tolerance towards Christians. Lord Patten, chancellor of the University of Oxford, former Governor of Hong Kong and former Cabinet minister said: «It is curious that atheists have proved to be so intolerant of those who have a faith».

In a lecture delivered at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward in Chiswick, called ‘Personal Faith and Public Service: Christian witness in the wider world’, Lord Patten said he was dismayed by the attitude of secularists to the Pope’s visit in September 2010. “Some of the arguments put forward by secularists against the Pope’s visit were lacking in intellectualism and were extraordinarily mean-spirited,” said Lord Patten, who oversaw the Government’s preparations for the papal trip. He then said those who reject religious belief were hypocritical to portray religious people as being narrow-minded given the level of aggression they have displayed to Christians. “It is curious that atheists have proved to be so intolerant of those who have a faith,” he said. He said his own experience was that people looked down on him intellectually for having a religious belief: “It makes people think I’m peculiar and lack intellectual fibres». Sources: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/new-bbc-trust-chairman-atheists-are-intolerant/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8469734/Lord-Patten-attacks-intolerant-secularists.html http://secular-europe-campaign.org/2011/04/page/2/