Richard Dawkins lied about the Algerian boxer, then lied about Facebook censoring him

[u/ghhewh]

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/richard-dawkins-lied-about-the-algerian

[u/[deleted]]

The guy who made a generation of middle schoolers insufferable.

[u/tippytoppy93 → u/[deleted]]

kinda sad bc i’m sure 90% of the Gen-Z people in this sub probably watched his stuff years ago, only now realizing that he’s sort of insufferable 

[u/Patjay → u/tippytoppy93]

He’s funny sometimes but he’s always been insufferable. Major case of someone who is very smart at one thing and assuming they’re a genius at everything else as well.

Politics aside, his understanding of religion was pretty pathetic even compared to other major brash Atheists of the time

[u/Trooboolean → u/Patjay]

I've personally never understood this criticism of him and I hear it a lot. In what way is his understanding of religion pathetic? Is it that he thinks questions regarding religion should be settled rationally, and that they fail that test? Because he definitely knows, as all reasonable atheists do, that the appeal of religion is to the heart. He just doesn't think that's a legitimate ground for belief.

[u/Patjay → u/Trooboolean]

I was being hyperbolic, but his general knowledge of theology seemed much too low to be having high level academic debates over it. He never seemed particularly knowledgeable about scripture, and when he is, often has incredibly literal surface level interpretations of it that just aren't representative of what religious people actually think.

Granted, Dawkins was taking a much harder anti-religion stance than is going to be palatable to most people. He was just doing polemics and dismissing the entire field, as opposed to really getting into the details like a lot of the other atheist figures do. I just never really got anything insightful from him, despite largely being on the same page about most of it.

[u/[deleted] → u/Patjay]

often has incredibly literal surface level interpretations of it that just aren't representative of what religious people actually think.

A lot of us grew up in sects that believed exactly those literal interpretations, and plenty of crazier shit too

[u/AnachronisticPenguin → u/[deleted]]

Yes, but no one takes those people seriously. It's the equivalent of dunking on a MAGA supporting when discussing economics.

Sure its a problem in society that people are this dumb but it shouldn't give you academic credibility.

[u/casino_r0yale → u/AnachronisticPenguin]

no one takes those people seriously

[citation needed]

[u/AnachronisticPenguin → u/casino_r0yale]

Across the world, people get theology degrees from esteemed universities many of which are religiously affiliated yet no major university is teaching young earth creationism.

[u/casino_r0yale → u/AnachronisticPenguin]

https://newcreation.blog/creation-colleges-what-to-know/

Also, in 2024 it's risible to conflate university pedagogy with being taken seriously. Most of the people in these young-earth creationist communities will never see university.

[u/AnachronisticPenguin → u/casino_r0yale]

I looked into some curriculum stuff for liberty... I stand corrected.

[u/Windows_10-Chan → u/AnachronisticPenguin]

Yes, but no one takes those people seriously

If you grew up under those people, or in the Bible Belt, you took them very seriously!

The largest motivator of the new Atheist movement is the power that those people hold over society and over children. The preface of Dawkins' book makes this very clear.

[u/BewareTheFloridaMan → u/Windows_10-Chan]

Yeah, I remember guys like Dawkins being kind of a relief to listen to after having gone through the Bush years with evangelicals seeming to have so much political and cultural influence.

[u/EsnesNommoc → u/Windows_10-Chan]

This. Religion and theists still have an overwhelming amount of control over government and society in the majority of countries. I understand criticizing individual personalities for bigotry or perceived edginess, but the hand wringing about the new Atheist movement as a whole have always sounded like this.

https://preview.redd.it/3yd93edyz5id1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee301359c218cf7f4b943cf0538833d53e9e6818

[u/lnslnsu → u/AnachronisticPenguin]

They take themselves seriously. So do their families, their churches, and their communities. You can’t dismiss them as “just doing religion wrong” religion is what the believer chooses it to be, and it’s just as valid to them as deeply-rooted-in-scripture Catholicism is to the pope.