Expose the ignorant atheist haters!

I came across this article in the guardian this weekend: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/24/atheism-religion and I couldn't decide whether to be more amused or appalled by the blatant inaccuracies and untruths. Luckily, some eloquent commentators have picked up upon her falsities, but simultaneously the odd lunatic has jumped to her defence. Sifting through the comments and not wishing to repeat any of the obvious points, my concern would be her insensitive interchanging of the notion of humanist and atheist. Not all atheists would claim to be humanists, and I think this is an important distinction that she fails to make. Humanism is a philosophy and it is a much debated one, and not all humanists have the same position in relation to world religions - though many would take the atheist stance. I think Richard Dawkins' 7 point scale of position in relation to the existence of God(s), described in The God Delusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion) is a useful point to start...
My second point would be her ignorant portrayal of humanist funerals. I have not been to many, but I have met a number of others who have (including BHA officiants who have taken these). They are incredibly personal and sensitive celebrations of peoples' lives - in stark contrast to the church funerals I have attended. Two recent church funerals I've attended included vicars: (a) getting the name of the deceased wrong; (b) taking the opportunity to chastise the partner of the deceased for not believing in god; (c) indulging in speaking at length about the relationship he had with the deceased and down-playing the relationship friends and family had had. Humanist ceremonies - whether weddings, namings or funerals - are about celebrating life, they are about hope and they are about the ability of human beings to make this world a better place - because we are human and not because of any deity. Simple as really. But it is very much mistaken to assume all atheists or agnostics subscribe to this philosophy.