RE: Rabbi falsely calls Dawkins anti Semite.
January 24, 2016 at 10:11 pm
(This post was last modified: January 24, 2016 at 10:12 pm by Aegon.)
EDIT: I lost the formatting when I clicked Submit for some stupid reason.
I already said why. Now, if you're okay with his egotistical and belittling manners, then fine. But I'm not. I agree with many other scholars, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, that his rhetoric is actually harmful to his own cause and the cause of many scientists. The whole "Brights movement" that he was behind for a while is just pathetic; the idea that religious people are inherently less intelligent than atheists is ridiculous, and especially ironic considering how many atheists were once religious themselves. As for The God Delusion, I agree with most of what agnostic biology professor H. Allen Orr has to say about it.
Here's a tidbit from that article:
"Dawkins clearly believes his background in science allows him to draw strong conclusions about religion and, in The God Delusion, he presents those conclusions in language that’s stronger still. Dawkins not only thinks religion is unalloyed nonsense but that it is an overwhelmingly pernicious, even “very evil,” force in the world. His target is not so much organized religion as all religion. And within organized religion, he attacks not only extremist sects but moderate ones. Indeed, he argues that rearing children in a religious tradition amounts to child abuse.
[...]
As you may have noticed, Dawkins when discussing religion is, in effect, a blunt instrument, one that has a hard time distinguishing Unitarians from abortion clinic bombers. What may be less obvious is that, on questions of God, Dawkins cannot abide much dissent, especially from fellow scientists (and especially from fellow evolutionary biologists). Indeed Dawkins is fond of imputing ulterior motives to those “Neville Chamberlain School” scientists not willing to go as far as he in his war on religion: he suggests that they’re guilty of disingenuousness, playing politics, and lusting after the large prizes awarded by the Templeton Foundation to scientists sympathetic to religion. The only motive Dawkins doesn’t seem to take seriously is that some scientists genuinely disagree with him."
I already said why. Now, if you're okay with his egotistical and belittling manners, then fine. But I'm not. I agree with many other scholars, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, that his rhetoric is actually harmful to his own cause and the cause of many scientists. The whole "Brights movement" that he was behind for a while is just pathetic; the idea that religious people are inherently less intelligent than atheists is ridiculous, and especially ironic considering how many atheists were once religious themselves. As for The God Delusion, I agree with most of what agnostic biology professor H. Allen Orr has to say about it.
Here's a tidbit from that article:
"Dawkins clearly believes his background in science allows him to draw strong conclusions about religion and, in The God Delusion, he presents those conclusions in language that’s stronger still. Dawkins not only thinks religion is unalloyed nonsense but that it is an overwhelmingly pernicious, even “very evil,” force in the world. His target is not so much organized religion as all religion. And within organized religion, he attacks not only extremist sects but moderate ones. Indeed, he argues that rearing children in a religious tradition amounts to child abuse.
[...]
As you may have noticed, Dawkins when discussing religion is, in effect, a blunt instrument, one that has a hard time distinguishing Unitarians from abortion clinic bombers. What may be less obvious is that, on questions of God, Dawkins cannot abide much dissent, especially from fellow scientists (and especially from fellow evolutionary biologists). Indeed Dawkins is fond of imputing ulterior motives to those “Neville Chamberlain School” scientists not willing to go as far as he in his war on religion: he suggests that they’re guilty of disingenuousness, playing politics, and lusting after the large prizes awarded by the Templeton Foundation to scientists sympathetic to religion. The only motive Dawkins doesn’t seem to take seriously is that some scientists genuinely disagree with him."
![[Image: nL4L1haz_Qo04rZMFtdpyd1OZgZf9NSnR9-7hAWT...dc2a24480e]](https://external-preview.redd.it/nL4L1haz_Qo04rZMFtdpyd1OZgZf9NSnR9-7hAWTNVY.jpg?width=216&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=7b11e8b38bea0eacc8797fc971574ddc2a24480e)