The “God particle” was actually coined in a book about the search for the elusive particle. It was not a reference to religion per se, just making use of a metaphor. Mr. Higgs is being way too sensitive.
However, there is an interesting analogy to be made from this term. Without the Higgs field (of which the Higgs boson is only the force carrier), there would be no matter in the universe, only energy. Energy cannot interact with itself, only matter by way of the Pauli exclusion principal. So without the “God particle”, appearing some time after the Big Bang, the universe would be a uniform sea of energy, void and without form.
Perhaps they should name it after him, and call it the "a-hole" particle.