Dawkins is an atheist fundamentalist - and I can't stand fundamentalists whether they be atheists, Muslims, Zionists, animal rights activists or whatever. Upvote for potential discussion - not the intolerant bile that Dawkins often espouses.

I agree, I found Dawkins far more agreeable when he was a lil' more rational and not so vehemently opposed to any real discussion of his theories. But I believe that now that he has been on the road for a while the sheer amount of negativism he has faced from the fringe theological community really pushed him to the edge.

I'm getting fed up of these Dawkin clips. Is he a professional atheist just so he can flog books or does he have a day job? I thought he was something in biology once upon a time?

" the sheer amount of negativism he has faced from the fringe theological community really pushed him to the edge"

That could well be true. Also, most people I know who are extreme in their atheism can trace their atheism back to some kind of childhood experience - over zealous sunday school teacher, overly religious parents, etc. I'd love to know what happened to Dawkins to instill such an irrational fear and hatred of religion in him.

Richard Dawkins did something to Atheism that I don't think anybody in recent history has been able to do. You must admit he has created a dialogue about Religion that was not broadcasted in the past, or at least I never heard anything about Atheism in the Main stream media until Dawkins came along with this book.

I bet pretty soon we won't hear from Dawkins for another year or two as he goes off to write another book, his PR campaign must be coming to an end.

He's not a fundamentalist atheist.. he's said numerous times in his books and interviews that if he found evidence of a god, then he'd be open to the idea. He accepts that you can never say you ABSOLUTELY think something because you may be proven wrong some day. (However unlikely)

Gwaan, he said in the interview he finally lost his waning religion when he read about Darwin's theory at 15. He's never mentioned that he was heavily indoctrinated or abused. It doesn't take a catastrophic even to lose your religion, for me it was a slow and gradual process of questioning and doubt that took years.

What Dawkins could stand to do more is help provide thoughts on what to replace religion with. If you thought God provided the meaning in life, then what do you do when you realise that wasn't the case? I think it's more constructive for intellectuals to provide solutions and alternatives, than solely trying to disprove.

"What Dawkins could stand to do more is help provide thoughts on what to replace religion with."

That's simply not his job. He's a demolitions man, not a builder - hopefully someone else can step up to that task in the future.

" the sheer amount of negativism he has faced from the fringe theological community really pushed him to the edge"

Yes, he's only human after all and he's getting older. Don't hold that against him though, it's not his belief cracking under the strain, it's just that if you feed any human being enough negativism he'll eventually be affected.

Evolution is a fundamental and unifying principle of biology, and modern science is founded in the dogma of the scientific method. Using loaded words like this and branding Dawkins a fundamentalist seems fine at first glance, but sets you arguing that the scientific method of looking and waiting for evidence is something that is inappropriate as a basis for ones spiritual life, and is equal to belief in superstition.

Group Selection (at -19min) is very much coming back into modern evolutionary biology research, making it interesting that Dawkins still brushes it off as if books from 30 years ago settled the matter. Theres some very interesting research into the innateness of belief in a nonhuman higher-power in children of a certain age, for example.

(no upvote, until the quote at -14min... "well tough, your life is worthless! so what?!"... 2nd half of interview = way better than 1st half)

Fundamentalism:

A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.





Fundamentalism is a religious term. It relies on strict adherence to principles that cannot be proven or disproven. Dawkins is not a fundamentalist.

Also, I think that people who get pissed off at Dawkins are taking the things he says personally, most likely because they are in fact religious. But to assert that he is "spewing bile" or somehow being negative is simply not true. He never raises his voice. He never takes ad hominem attacks at people. Any point he makes he backs up with logical points that support his thesis.

You cant ask for much more in terms of reasoned debate from a person. If you take offense, you might want to rethink your own world view.

"That's simply not his job. He's a demolitions man, not a builder - hopefully someone else can step up to that task in the future."

Yeah, i'll accept that, but is also why I said 'provide thoughts' and not 'answers' The thing is, he's not just another scientific voice anymore, he's in the mainstream pop-culture now. If he's to appeal to this wide audience, I just think you've gotta make yourself more a role model than simply a malcontent.

Though, I have seen a change in his argumentative style these last few months. He seems to take much more time explaining his position and even admitting error in the use of some the provocative terminology. It is great that he has opened the dialogue on the discussion of religion once more, it has to be said. Good times!

"Dawkins is an atheist fundamentalist"

Wtf? Did you even watch this interview?

he did a horrible job in this talk. He is trying to be too precise making all his arguments apear weak as he doesnt have the time to really develop those concepts. He was also making too many logical mistakes and he was having to back out of those. I guess it must not have been a good day for him. Human is such a horrible condition... :-)

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