Now Dawkins Attacks a Comedian
by MikeGeneBritish comedian Peter Kay has written a memoir that in turn has been nominated for this year's Galaxy British Book Awards . The problem? That puts Kay into direct competition with Richard Dawkins, and his anti-religious book, The God Delusion. Apparently, Dawkins was not too keen on competing with a comedian.
According to this article at thisislondon.co.uk:
Now poor Peter Kay has got it in the neck. Kay has written an autobiography, The Sound Of Laughter, which sold more than 600,000 copies in six weeks - bad news for the presumably envious professor whose own best-seller, The God Delusion, has not done quite so well.
Both men are now shortlisted for a prize and Dawkins, a self-publicist of assured brilliance, has chosen to weigh into his rival. Peter Kay was brought up as a Roman Catholic. He is unsentimental about this in his book, and has clearly left formal Christianity behind.
He does not, for example, believe in the divinity of Christ. "I think Jesus was just an ordinary person, like me and you." But Kay does go on to say that "I believe in a God of some kind, in some sort of higher being. Personally I find it very comforting".
Enter Dawkins, snorting with rage. "How can you take seriously someone who likes to believe something because he finds it 'comforting'?" he asks.
"If evidence for a Supreme Being were found, I would change my mind instantly - with pride and great surprise. Would I find it comforting? What matters is what is true and we discover the truth by evidence and not by what we would like."
There are two things worth noting about this little spat. First, while Dawkins often likes to allude to religious extremists while bashing religion, it should be clear that he harbors mean-spirited contempt for the mildest form of religious belief "“ a mere comedian who happens to believe in "some sort of higher being." Second, Dawkins claims he "would change his mind instantly" if "evidence for a Supreme Being were found." Really? Is there any evidence to believe this? Or are we simply supposed to accept this on faith? Sorry, but I see no evidence that leads me to believe that Dawkins would "change his mind instantly" if confronted by "evidence" for a "Supreme Being." I guess when it comes to beliefs about him, Dawkins wants us all to be "faith-heads."
March 10th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Mike writes:
Apparently, that may not be accurate.
http://richarddawkins.net/arti...
Comment by KC — March 10, 2007 @ 9:41 am
March 10th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Hahaha, someone took advantage of Dawkins' penchant for anti-religious bile-spewing. I find that incredibly funny, although I certainly wouldn't condone that sort of manipulation even on someone like Dawkins.
Comment by thechristiancynic — March 10, 2007 @ 9:50 am
March 10th, 2007 at 10:15 am
So Dawkins was "set up?" I'll buy it, but in doing so, I am behaving as a "faith-head" as Dawkins provides no evidence to support his story. But he does make one very interesting comment:
Animal rights extremism is a big story in England. Are we to believe that reporters have never asked him for a soundbite?
Comment by MikeGene — March 10, 2007 @ 10:15 am
March 10th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Dawkins:
Does Dawkins ever cease to amaze? Surely a scientist of his supposed stature should know that somewhere at the bottom of his self proclaimed affinity for the "truth", is a deep emotional commitment. Why his emotional commitment should matter is an interesting question since in his worldview he cannot find any ultimate basis for it overagainst someone who just finds comfort. If one keeps asking Dawkins the "why" question, eventually his answer would be just as arbitrary.
Comment by Steve Petermann — March 10, 2007 @ 10:24 am
March 10th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Dawkins says in his "apology" KC links:
He "assumed" - as one of the "usual suspects" - he was being asked to make his 'usually' expected pronouncement of idiocy on someone he doesn't know, for saying he believes in God?
Wow. That's the most blatantly insulting apology I've ever seen! Worse - he insults himself!!
Comment by Joy — March 10, 2007 @ 11:32 am
March 10th, 2007 at 11:35 am
"How can you take seriously someone who likes to believe something because he finds it 'comforting'?"
Good question. Dawkins himself has failed to embrace what he acknowledges as the logical conclusion of his world view when it comes to free will. Does he think that others should stop taking him seriously?
Comment by Krauze — March 10, 2007 @ 11:35 am
March 10th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I think "self" may be not be in enough places there. More accurate might be, a "self-publicist of self-assured self-brilliance…"
Comment by TomG — March 10, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
March 10th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Dawkins is jumping to conclusions by assuming that the guy believes in God because it brings him comfort. Couldn't it be possible that the guy believes for some reason, and that it also gives him comfort?
Comment by Brian Killian — March 10, 2007 @ 7:02 pm
March 11th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Wouldn't Dawkins' book have a good chance against a work of comedy ?
I know I chuckled quite a bit while reading it.
Comment by thesciphishow — March 11, 2007 @ 7:14 am
March 11th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Perhaps Dawkins thinks humor is an offshoot of ID, or just as much of a threat to science.
Comment by Douglas — March 11, 2007 @ 2:58 pm