Church of England 'struggling to counter cool image of atheism'

London: The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted the Church of England is struggling to counter the image of atheism as "the new cool thing".

Dr Rowan Williams said that the reason for this is because of the popularity of non-believers like ethologist Richard Dawkins and author Christopher Hitchens, The Telegraph reports.

Although he said that attempts are being made to convince people to believe in God, he feared there will be "no quick fix".

His remarks came despite new research, released by the Roman Catholic Church, suggesting that the Pope's visit to Britain a year ago has brought a lasting rise in the level of spiritual and religious feeling in the country.

Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral in a public conversation with Frank Skinner, Dr Williams argued that the growing popularity of atheism had not necessarily led to a fall in the number of people who believe in God.

"I'd want to know how many atheists Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion created. The book sold, but did it make a difference to the number of people who were actually committed one way or the other? I'm not avoiding the point that the coolness of atheism is very much in evidence. The problem is it's become a bit of a vicious circle. Atheism is cool, so books about atheism are cool," he said.

"They get a high profile, and books that say Richard Dawkins is wrong don't get the same kind of publicity because atheism is the new cool thing. It's difficult to break into that, but plenty of people are trying," he added.

Opinion poll findings released by the Roman Catholic Church show there has been a rise in the level of religious belief in this country following last year's papal visit. Crowds of up to 600,000 lined the streets and attended big set-piece events when Pope Benedict XVI came to England and Scotland last September.