The Dawkins 'Race' Row

[Faith No More]

I think Dawkins dropped the ball when trying to make a nuanced argument over Twitter in 140 characters. If you read the summary, he actually highlights that the points he was trying to make got lost in the 140 character limit.

True, but that doesn't excuse his over-simplification. He should have been able to recognize the limitations and known that such an argument could not be limited in such a manner. The fact that he chose to address a complex issue in a simple manner appears to demonstrate ignorance of the issue.

I believe the issue he was trying to raise was the retarding nature of Islam amoungst the general population (laity) in which Islam, and Islamic rules,are the dominant political and social arbiter.

I agree that was most likely his intent, but he went about it very, very poorly.

Bracketing out socio-economic structures that go hand in hand with these kind of debates, the actual central point I believe is well made. Now we can debate back and forth the level of influence of Islam vis socio-economic structures, but I think the inherent issue (Islam, at least the form of Islam(s) we see today) retards societal development, will remain regardless of the ratio we settle on . Debatable, naturally.

The problem is that the central point was lost in a poorly communicated argument. Having a valid point is useless if you fail to demonstrate you understand the various factors involved.