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/Patjay]

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/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.