Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

He is a 'psychotic delinquent', invented by mad, deluded people. And that's one of Dawkins's milder criticisms.

Dawkins, Oxford University's Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, is on a crusade.

His salvo of outrage and ridicule is meant to rid the world of its greatest evil: religion. "If this book works as I intend," he says, "religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." But he admits such a result is unlikely. "Dyed-in-the-wool faith-heads" (that's people who believe in God) are "immune to argument", he says.

I have known Dawkins for more than 20 years; we are both Oxford professors. I believe if anyone is "immune to argument" it is him. He comes across as a dogmatic, aggressive propagandist.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 4th, 2007 at 11:46 am and is filed under Richard Dawkins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins”

Joy Says:
February 4th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
McGrath also noted that he was part of the filming of The Root of All Evil? -

But when I debated these points with him, Dawkins seemed uncomfortable. I was not surprised to be told that my contribution was to be cut.

The Root Of All Evil? was subsequently panned for its blatant unfairness. Where, the critics asked, was a responsible, informed Christian response to Dawkins? The answer: on the cutting-room floor.

Dawkins is "uncomfortable" debating knowledgeable theologians. Particularly those with Ph.D.s in molecular biophysics. And isn't shy of cutting and pasting even if doing so diminishes the broader impact of his project.

Still, I'm a believer in "equal time," and the BBC no doubt offers lots of religious propaganda (it is the official mouthpiece of a nation with an official state religion, after all). So I've no problem with Dawkins being able to offer his opposing views, and shape the production as best suits his purpose. If the purpose is (as PZ noted) a 'strategy' for gathering a sociopolitically useful stable of ideological acolytes under a group-identity umbrella, that's okay so long as incitement to violence isn't part of the program. Why, I'm not averse in the least to the idea of modernizing Britain's political system so that it doesn't have an official state religion!

But it's a bit like herding cats. Many of the other testosterone-soaked alpha-toms are too narcissistic to be herded, and may even be competing for the same population of herdable junior toms and twitterpated she-cats. McGrath is correct, I think, that none of them are very convincing to members of the targeted 'enemy' being demonized, but I don't automatically presume they have any hope or intention of convincing them (or they wouldn't be characterizing them as subhuman scum).

They're just gathering like-minded volunteers. It's always about will to power, and power is magnified by numbers. Because cats are notoriously independent, the subhumans can just sit back and enjoy the catfight.

Comment by Joy — February 4, 2007 @ 3:28 pm

Exile From Groggs Says:
February 4th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Still, I'm a believer in "equal time," and the BBC no doubt offers lots of religious propaganda (it is the official mouthpiece of a nation with an official state religion, after all).

I assume that was tongue in cheek.

Presumably this interview was partly to promote McGrath's book, The Dawkins Delusion? – will that be reviewed here?

Comment by Exile From Groggs — February 4, 2007 @ 5:36 pm

Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

2 Responses to “Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins”

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