I'm Not the Only Atheist Who Thinks the Campaign to Arrest the Pope is Idiotic

A few days ago I wrote about Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins efforts to arrest the Pope. Unlike me, most atheists I've read are at least sympathetic to the idea. So it was nice to see an article by self-described "atheist libertarian," Brendan O'Neill, called "The Pope-hunters' Pathological Campaign." I'm not sure I agree with his psychoanalysis of their motivations, but he's right about their obsession with the Pope. He clearly understands that this campaign makes atheists look bad, and leads people to dismiss them as anti-religious bigots. I was going to quote some sections, but I'm currently at work, and for some reason am unable to cut & paste on blogger. Read the article and see what you think of his thesis. It's a pretty sweeping indictment of the whole "new atheist" movement, which I don't think is warranted. But if applied only to Hitchens and Dawkins themselves, and those who ardently support the pope-hunting campaign, it may have more merit.