American Atheists, Inc. say Pope Benedict XVI blames atheism for “the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice,” in his new encyclical “Spe salvi,” while missing the mote in his church’s own eye.

“Benedict needs to go back to school and study history,” said Ellen Johnson,President of American Atheists. “The most noxious and oppressive tyranny inevitably cloaks its mis-deeds in the rationale of religious faith. It is the values that originated with the Enlightenment and secularism which offer humanity the real hope in the form of freedom, progress and diversity.”

Even in the current day, “it’s pretty clear that our world is suffering from too much religion and too little secularism,” noting militant Islam as a particularly vexing problem.

The atheists continue in that fire-breathing vein here.