Militant atheists ruining Britain?

If you feel so inclined, read Nick Cohen's short piece in The Observer today. With Christians demonstrating their wanting intelligence not yesterday, and the religious propensity to resort to the most extreme measures (see recent Fort Knox massacre; September 11th 2001, etc.), is it fair to label the "new atheists", not far removed, it must be said, from the "old atheists", as just "as fundamentalist in their criticisms of religion as the religious fanatics they criticise". Richard Dawkins hasn't yet motivated anyone into strapping a bomb to themselves and discharging their entrails onto nearby commuters. Perhaps this is merely due to a lack of rhetorical vigour, though I have my doubts. Mixing politics with religion is extremely dangerous, and it would be unfair to you to have to explain why. However, what we see developing in Britain at present is nothing more than the realised desperation of a failing Labour party less than six months away from the next general election. There is nothing "progressive" in respecting the place of minority and/or majority religious communities within political maneuvering.