Gareth Cliff's going to hell, I'll see him there

I cannot actually believe that I need to blog about this story, but I do.I just read this article, here's a snippet and then I'll continue:

Not my cup of tea. I am sorry to say that my estimation of Gareth Cliff has been lowered, for what it's worth, not for his views on religion - I am not surprised by uninformed and shallow approaches to a Universe filled with mystery! That happens every day! I am disappointed in the manner in which he dealt with this issue, and the ordinary listener who expressed her opinion in relation to his. Clearly he was dismissive of her, yet he wanted to have the right to have his opinion heard without challenge!

The irony of this comment is that Dion (the author) is doing precisely what he criticises Cliff for doing; being dismissive. What a load of rubbish.I have openly stated before that I am an atheist and have no issue with that. I am not ignorant, uninformed of shallow. In fact, I am well versed in christianity and have gone out of my way to educate myself. Why is it that in the eyes of a christian, any form of altering opinion is blasphemous and tantamount to condemning yourself to "hell".Get real, freedom of speech is the answer here and Cliff said and did nothing that should be considered bad. So he aired his views, would christians be pissed off he said god was great? If he said that christians were right? No, they wouldn't because it would agree with their view on the world. Obviously they are upset because his opinion is different to theirs. Simple.There is really no reason for them to send in hate mail and tell him that they are praying for something to happen to him to convert him to god. Please.So if Cliff is going to hell then so am I. We need to get over this religious elitism in the same way that we have overcome apartheid.Another post to read: Sarah Britten.