I took it that way too, about Kinsley being an atheist, but I too am not 100% sure. A very amusing column, thanks for posting it.
However, I have to question this assertion “Religious leaders from all the major faiths, who disagree on some of the most fundamental questions, managed to put aside their differences to agree that Rushdie had it coming.”
I certainly do not recall anything like that. And it annoys me to have the, shall we say “excesses” of Mohammedism confabulated with other religions. Maybe some one can clarify.
Nothing reported in the NYT deserves any response.
Atheists generally lump all religions together. To an atheist it makes as much sense to worship Ra or Dispator as it does to worship Christ or Allah. It also tends to confound Religious types who will agree with the atheist, except when it comes to their own God.
The basic difference between an atheist and a religious person is that the God fearing person believes in one specific God and rejects all the rest, while the atheist simply rejects them all.