Oh God, Please Stop...
August 9, 2013 4:37 PM Subscribe
Please be quiet, Richard Dawkins, I'm begging, as a fan - a plea to Richard Dawkins after his latest round of inflamatory tweets, described as "as rational as the rants of an extremist Muslim cleric". Dawkins himself remains unconvinced anything is wrong.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Really, we need more reason for another "Why Dawkins is horrible" thread than people remarking on how horrible he is. -- restless_nomad
Aah the old Fake Conversations With Myself as Reasoned Argument chestnut! Go home Dawkins. Do a crossword. Shake your fist at the telly. Play bingo. ANYTHING ELSE.
posted by basicchannel at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by basicchannel at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Get that man a Nobel Peace Prize!
posted by KokuRyu at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by KokuRyu at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I agree with this article, and even more with the similar article in The New Statesman, which says "Increasingly, Richard Dawkins' public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance in a maturing community."
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:45 PM on August 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:45 PM on August 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
I quit paying attention to him after the Atheists+ debacle. A swift, thorough heart attack would have been kinder to his legacy than a Twitter account is turning out to be.
posted by fatbird at 4:45 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by fatbird at 4:45 PM on August 9, 2013
Get that man a Nobel Peace Prize!
...and smash him in the head with it?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:47 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
...and smash him in the head with it?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:47 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've blocked about as many evangelical atheist accounts as I have spammers. #YMMV
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:48 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:48 PM on August 9, 2013
The Ass End of Man
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:53 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:53 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
More like Shitchard Cockins!
Seriously though, it's borderline scary how oblivious he is to the damage he's inflicting upon his own cause. He's like the creationist of atheists.
posted by ORthey at 4:53 PM on August 9, 2013
Seriously though, it's borderline scary how oblivious he is to the damage he's inflicting upon his own cause. He's like the creationist of atheists.
posted by ORthey at 4:53 PM on August 9, 2013
People do not seem to get that racism, as it relies on unscientific notions of ethnicity and descent, does not need to be applied to whatever passes for "race" in rational discourse.
posted by mobunited at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by mobunited at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
It's one of those weird places where he's factually right but the single data point proves nothing except that he's looking for an axe to grind.
posted by GuyZero at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by GuyZero at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
Celebrity is just very, very bad for some people I think.
posted by Artw at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by Artw at 4:54 PM on August 9, 2013
I don't even want to wade into most of this, but this nugget is so annoying because of its commonness and its pure illogic:
from Dawkins' response: “If you think Islam is a race, you are a racist yourself.”
Sigh. No, that is not how it works. "Racism" is not a word for ignorance about race in general. It is a word for racial prejudice or in particular for the racial prejudice in a system. Believing that Islam is a race does not make you a racist. Believing that green is a race does not make you a racist. Believing that sad is a race does not make you a racist. All of those things just make you uninformed or otherwise mistaken.
I get so tired of this; it's such a common retort, but it never makes sense. "If you think X, then you're the racist!" It's like even educated people aren't immune to the temptation to say "I know you are, but what am I?"
posted by koeselitz at 4:55 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
from Dawkins' response: “If you think Islam is a race, you are a racist yourself.”
Sigh. No, that is not how it works. "Racism" is not a word for ignorance about race in general. It is a word for racial prejudice or in particular for the racial prejudice in a system. Believing that Islam is a race does not make you a racist. Believing that green is a race does not make you a racist. Believing that sad is a race does not make you a racist. All of those things just make you uninformed or otherwise mistaken.
I get so tired of this; it's such a common retort, but it never makes sense. "If you think X, then you're the racist!" It's like even educated people aren't immune to the temptation to say "I know you are, but what am I?"
posted by koeselitz at 4:55 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I like how in his blog he says "I'll condense families of attacks into generalised form" and then multiple times writes the archetype with a misspelling of "you're". Why did he not just post a video of him beating up literal straw men?
Dawkins, what an asshole.
posted by crayz at 4:56 PM on August 9, 2013
Dawkins, what an asshole.
posted by crayz at 4:56 PM on August 9, 2013
Note to Dawkins: Rubber and glue are also not races.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:57 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:57 PM on August 9, 2013
Anyway, I'm sure there are more people at Cambridge who got a leg up based on multigenerational investments slave wealth than anywhere in the Muslim world.
Muslims do continue to lead for innocent weddings obliterated by NATO bombs. Whose accomplishment is that?
posted by mobunited at 4:57 PM on August 9, 2013
Muslims do continue to lead for innocent weddings obliterated by NATO bombs. Whose accomplishment is that?
posted by mobunited at 4:57 PM on August 9, 2013
It's so tempting to start a Drunk Richard Dawkins Twitter account: HOW MANY HINDUS? HOW MANY MORMONS? HUH, PEOPLE? COME ON. I WANT ANSWERS!
posted by perhapses at 4:59 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by perhapses at 4:59 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
The fact that a European body has given the most award to Europeans proves that Europeans are awesome! Fuck yeah, Europe!
posted by absalom at 5:01 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by absalom at 5:01 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by intelligentless at 4:39 PM on August 9, 2013