Friday
Nov192010
Richard Dawkins reads his hate mail
Friday, November 19, 2010
I know a number of bloggers who receive a lot of hate mail, people like Dooce and Her Bad Mother. Thankfully, I don't receive a lot of it, but I have had some interesting comments. But I laughed out loud yesterday when I saw this video of Richard Dawkins reading his hate mail. So, since you asked for more atheist/agnostic content on this site and since people deserve a good laugh on Friday, please take a moment to enjoy this. Be warned though, it is full of profanity, bad grammar and intolerance. Things you may not want your children to pick up, so save it for after their bedtime or put in your earphones.
Video found via: Good.
Video found via: Good.
Reader Comments (17)
That's fun. Good for him for having a sense of humour. I don't know much about him but I think I'd like him. Will look him up.
Ah yes. I love Dawkins. I hope to see him speak in person one day!
Oh I love it! Thanks so much for sharing.
That was hilarious!
Very funny. He has a great sense of humor about the whole thing. No doubt necessary when you so publicly hold such an unpopular opinion.
I loved this. I watched it when you posted the link on twitter. I wish everyone could take obnoxious comments the same way.
While this vid is amusing and all, Richard Dawkins is hardly the voice of "tolerance". He is just as much a fundamentalist as evangelical Christians. Both give religion a bad name, for different reasons.
Most atheists who are reasonable people dislike Dawkins for his "religion is a problem and religious people are crazy" stances.
Lily:
I do think there are a lot of problems with religion. While I am quite open to people having different beliefs than me, I (like Dawkins) am very critical of organized religion. I do think it does more harm than good. I don't think it is intolerant to hold that opinion.
If he is calling people crazy, I would object to that, but perhaps for different reasons than you. I don't like the word crazy being used in a derogatory or flippant fashion, no matter who it is directed at. That is insensitive to people with mental illness, in the same way that the word retard is insensitive to people with down's syndrome.
I take issue with calling a science a fundamentalist. Scientists by nature change their views based on facts gathered through various means. Comparing Dawkins to a religious fundamentalist is both incorrect and absurd. Religious fundamentalists will believe whatever their religion tells them to believe regardless of the information at hand. That does not describe Dawkins at all.
I think Dawkins is criticized in many of the same way that those of us who are "lactivists" and attachment parents are criticized. People don't want to listen to it so they can get defensive and slew hate-filled rants that have nothing to do with the topic. Laughing off the insults is a healthy approach.
I was once mocked (behind my back but I overheard) for breastfeeding my daughter in a neighbor's yard while we were all having a little party. I wish I could have laughed or said something witty as Dawkins might do but instead I politely excused myself and went home and cried. I like him for lots of reasons. He is intelligent, witty, and unapologetically questions the status quo.
science=scientist.
head cold makes writing fun!
that was a classic - i wish i was as eloquent as his hate mail writers :p
i've also heard the fundamentalist argument slanted at Dawkins in comparison with evangelical religious observers (CBC R1 last week or two i think). there was a lot of weight to the observation. and there's also a lot of weight to describing some scientists as fundamentalists - it can take a lot to knock some off their chosen path of results/theory
Ok, I found this hilarious and I'm Christian...unbelievable hate. Not so good for your everlasting peace if you ask me!
From what I've heard of Dawkins, he does seem as dogmatic in his atheism as he accuses others of being in their faith.
I'm a person of faith, so while I don't agree with much of what I've heard from some of the less tolerant atheists - it is not a threat to me. Live and let live, everyone has their own path.
That title makes the video. Awesome.
He never uses the word "crazy" in anything I've read by him. However, he does call religious people irrational in the strictest sense of the word, ie, there is no rational belief in religious belief systems. He might have characterized an argument by a religious person as crazy (obviously I've not read every thing he's ever written or said), but I would be very surprised to hear he'd called a person crazy.
Anyone who characterizes Dawkins as dogmatic in his atheism has clearly never read his work. All of his conclusions are drawn through logical reasoning and scientific understanding.
LOVE it!! He is funny! and OMG, if they are going to ridicule him then shouldn't they run a quick spell check through their computer and maybe re-read what they've written to ensure it actually makes sense before they hit send??? Just a thought!!
That was brilliant!