What are your thoughts on Richard Dawkins?

[Brian37]

I for one think that he is quite an intelligent guy. I think he has written some great books. I have only read one of them and that was called The God Delusional. But to be quite honest, whenever I hear him speak I have found that he comes off as quite smug and seems to talk down to those with other opinions. I'm an agnostic not I am not atheist nor Christian, so maybe I am a little biased.

Actually it is "The God Delusion" not "The God Delusional". But don't feel bad, I also do stuff like that. I suck at spelling, I have ADD and I also think I am slightly dyslexic.  I do however try to catch my mistakes as much as possible. Some websites tick me off like twitter because once you post you cant go back and correct your mistakes.

Anywho. I think Dawkins is extremely important as far as his contributions, especially with that book. But on a personal level, having heard from others about his personal tastes on interacting with others, he is a bit of a stuffed shirt. I met him at the 07 convention in D.C. and was warned before hand not to ask him to sign baseball style hats, he thinks that is low class. I did just that with my "atheist" baseball cap and he looked at me like I committed a crime. All I could think was, "Why should you give a fuck, you don't have to wear it?" I didn't say that but his look was annoying to me.

I don't look at celebrities the way I used to when I was a kid. I don't think Dawkins is an asshole, nor "smug" but simply has a different personality and different tastes. None of our personality differences change his contributions. No, I would not want to hang out at a bar or party with him, but his science is solid and a benefit to humanity regardless.

I would hang out with Hitchens if he were still alive. I like Sam Harris but don't think he would be fun to hang out with. I am not comfortable in formal settings. I hate having to worry about my looks or language or what fork to use, not my thing. I'd rather hang out at a bar and talk unfiltered.

As an aside. One author if you have not read, I recommend to everyone. The late Victor Stenger and his two books, "God The Failed Hypothesis" and "The New Atheism".