Richard Dawkins (General)
Our thanks to dhwilson. It's about time someone stood up to Dawkins on his own ground. We are fed up of his arrogant assumption that he knows most of the answers, and those he doesn't know are either not worth bothering about or will soon be provided by science. We are not believers ourselves, but we respect other people's beliefs ... including Dawkins' own ... so long as they are not harmful. What we cannot stand is the way in which he ridicules or ignores all human experience that does not fit in with his theories. To our mind this is not science, and it may well be harmful. If you demolish someone's house, you should be first be sure that the new house you are giving them is on safe ground
Richard Dawkins
I wonder to what extent it is actually Dawkins himself or some of his supposed supporters / allies who get up your nose? I sometimes think he suffers as did Marx who, I seem to recall, towards the end of his life declared "I am not a Marxist!" - clayto
Richard Dawkins
Dawkins' main point seems to be that religious claims and opinions should be open to comment and criticism, just as in any other field of human experience. Given the extent to which religious ideas impact upon our lives, influencing public policy on a range of controversial subjects (contraception, abortion, stem-cells, homosexuality, foreign policy, free speech, etc.) it seems only prudent that we subject them to an appropriate degree of scrutiny. In this light, the comments of Dawkins and other prominent atheist writers do not seem unduly harsh in my opinion.