Is atheism the “new cool thing”, as Archbishop Rowan Williams reckons?

I’d say not.

Well, not entirely. It has elements of cool. It’s cooler to say “fuck God” than “praise Jesus”. But it’s cooler still to say neither. And I’m not talking about the arsehole factor.

If we take out any equivocation, and look at it straight, no — atheism is not cool. But neither is religion, or philosophy, or physics, or mathematics. Or pretty much anything that requires brains and comes out of a book.

What is a safe topic to discuss with a relative stranger? What topics are discussed in sitcoms and panel programmes? It’s not Epicurus versus Aristotle, it’s the Eagles versus Adelaide.