Grandparent comment misspelled atheism; parent comment is being obnoxious about it.

I read it as aversion to the "New" part of "New Atheism", a term I don't think I've heard of before.

New Atheism refers to a specifically anti-religious/anti-theist viewpoint-- see Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc.

I am not familiar enough with H.G. Wells's religious leanings (or lack thereof) to make any kind of comparison between Wells's views and those of New Atheism's proponents, although I will note that War of the Worlds was written early enough that Wells may not have been atheist yet.