Richard Dawkins accused student protesters of antisemitism at his panel event - he then runs away when stumped on follow-up question
  • cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml
    23·
    6 months ago

    He’s been a reactionary asshole for years, this is nothing new. What’s sad is that his kind give atheists a bad name.

    • davel@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
      161·
      6 months ago

      I’m not familiar with New Atheism’s origins, but if it wasn’t created as War on Terror apologia, it certainly was used that way by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and many others. As a lifelong atheist who saw through the Iraq WMD lies from the start, I was horrified to watch how New Atheism played out.

      Why the arguments of the ‘New Atheists’ are often just as violent as religion

      Celebrity atheists such as Richard Dawkins appear to claim the moral high ground when it comes to violence. Dawkins, along with Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens, insist that because religion is intrinsically violent, then atheism is inherently more pacific. After all, if all the evils in the world can be blamed on religion, then arguably eliminating religion is not only desirable but a moral obligation for atheists who believe in peace.

      Yet our research shows that in the War on Terror, these atheists have been surprisingly willing to align themselves with policies which are at least as violent – and in some cases more so – than many of those perpetrated in the name of religion.

      • ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml
        93·
        6 months ago

        Hes part of the dialetic that pushed me towards agnotism rather than athisiesm, he runs into the ‘and who made you the supreme authority’ wall for me.

          • ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml
            9·
            6 months ago

            Here’s what I know, the world didn’t end when anyone else died before me. Here we are. I feel like insecurity about that leads a lot of people to talk about these things more than we need to.

            Its better to remain silent in the face of not knowing something than to speak with authority on something you cant know and be known as a fool.