Regular readers will know that Mouse is no fan of Richard Dawkins. His refusal to accept that it is legitimate to have a difference of opinion from him makes it difficult to engage with his arguments from where Mouse is sitting.
So it was with a little Mousey eyebrow raised very high indeed that Mouse read about the goings on at richarddawkins.net. Ruth Gledhill has by far the best write up, with an interview with the big man himself as well. Mouse will not go into the 'he said, she said' details of the issue, but what it adds up to is that some horrible things were said on the discussion forum at richarddawkins.net, to the extent that the whole forum had to be suspended. Those who have said these awful things are atheists, with whom Dawkins is not pleased.
It would only be the most foolish Christian who would look at that situation as if it could not happen on a Christian discussion forum, but Mouse hopes that there is a certain bringing down to earth that may result. Dawkins standard line is that there would be no conflict in the world if we were all clear thinking rationalists, and the tag-line for the official Dawkins website is 'An oasis of clear thinking'. Yet it seems that clear thinking rationalists are just as capable of behaving terribly to each other as anyone else.
Just as we suspected really.
Now all of this was causing a stir when the spoof Christian website Christwire took credit for the incident, claiming to have brought down the website by the power of prayer. The site is pretty clearly a spoof, yet the New Humanist was taken in, and gleefully announced that this was the latest example of Christian stupidity. It was soon pointed out to them, and they updated to admit their error. However, they rather ungraciously added that they had seen crazier things from Christian websites.
Update: Richard Dawkins has now apologised for his earlier comments. This story seems to have more twists than Chubby Checker, and Mouse has rather lost the inclination to follow it.
Lent Pilgrimage
4 minutes ago
I must say, it did cause me a wry smile to observe the unfolding mayhem on the Richard Dawkins forum. For so long many Christians have been hitting a brick wall in trying to suggest that this "free-thinking" and "rational" world of new atheism was far from either of those things. It is quite comforting to see them create their own example of just what a group of rationalists are capable of producing when they really try hard! God bless them all I say! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe tone of the place certainly seems to be more emotional than rational; antitheism rather than atheism. Strife and anger turns out to be caused, not by religion, but universally fallen human nature. That is how Genesis 3/4 is true, rather than as a weird bronze age form of biology.
ReplyDeleteMy own experience of the internet version of atheists is that they are angry people who have no peace in their souls.
ReplyDeleteI *have* seen crazier things on Christian websites. I have seen websites that announced the end of the world for specific dates, then they have changed the date when it has passed.
ReplyDeleteI have seen equally aggressive and abusive arguments on Christian websites, and terrible disrespect for other Christians. Even among the Anglicans and Catholics that I would expect better of. Methodists and English Baptists are an honourable exception, in my experience.
Although there's a certain irony in hanging up a sign saying "The Oasis for Clear Thinking is Closed", maybe every so-called Christian site should have at the top "See how these Christians Love Each Other".
My 'umble take is that if you let a frienzied scientist off the leash for long enough (s)he will start to froth and get all irrational and aerated and loose sense of what reality is. Deep breathing exercises really do help, or panting in into a brown paper bag. On the other hand none of us would have engaged with this conversation in the first place if it wasn't for Mr Dawkin's ire and passion. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI tweeted on the day that it started to unfold that "it was nice to see that atheists are capable of acting like Christians and tearing a strip off each other".
ReplyDeleteAs +Alan says, we are all part of the same human race with its same human weakness. It is nice to see that a smug superiority won't wash on either side of the fence!