“The rise of a secular, atheist philosophy" in the West is “an equally or even more dangerous threat” to Christianity than terrorist organizations that will kill Christians if “they don’t submit,” Gingrich said.

He said religious institutions such as the Ave Maria School of Law in North Naples can serve as “centers of resistance" to those “two horrendous wars underway against Christianity.”

The secular philosophy dominates universities and is embraced by newspaper editors and Hollywood, Gingrich said. It represents “a repudiation of everything we’ve learned about the importance of the spiritual world,” he said.

It’s bad enough to compare atheism to fundamentalist religious terrorism, but Gingrich seems to be going a step further. He’s actually saying that the mere existence of atheists — and the rise of the “Nones” — is actually worse for Christianity than extremist sectarian violence. When was the last time atheists waged a Holy War? When was the last time a suicide bomber killed innocent people in the name of No God? When have atheists ever actually tried to prevent Christians from privately worshiping God as they please?

Gingrich went on to say that, when it comes to secularists and Christians, “one side will win.”

“Either the radical secularists will succeed in controlling the government and driving religion out of American life or the people who believe in faith will succeed in controlling government and insist that you cannot impose radical values on American people.”

He expressed optimism that the religious side could prevail.

“We’re not going to give up on America,” Gingrich said. “We’re not going to give up on God.”