Since the core of our Maximum Critic’s case is that we’re too angry and rude and obnoxious, and also unfair to Our Leaders, especially Richard Dawkins, I thought I would take a squiz at RD’s Twitter feed to see how placid and polite and pleasant he is being in contrast to angry rude obnoxious us.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 20 hours ago
.@iconoclasmrules @pennjillette This, from Penn, strikes me as philosophically spot on. What flaw has your great philosophical mind found?
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 18 hours ago
@impossiblebones @pennjillette Oh for heaven’s sake, how is such crass misunderstanding possible? Impossible bones? Impossibly ridiculous.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins · Apr 12
@1Bblthmpr You’ve obviously never read a biology textbook or a book about evolution. Please do so & then come back if you want to argue.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins
I know no science, never read a biology book & have low IQ, but I know evolution is false bcos it doesn’t make sense to my uneducated mind.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins · Apr 11
@Adnan_Asif14 In the same sense of “theory” gravity too is only a theory. I suggest you test it by jumping out of a high window.
There are plenty of other tweets not in that vein, and some in a similar but less blatant vein. One in a more benevolent vein –
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins · Apr 11
What kind of “man” ENJOYS shooting birds on spring migration through Malta? Referendum to abolish the “sport” today. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/10/malta-bird-hunting-spring-referendum-animal-welfare …
Also, I’m not opposed to a waspish tone as such. It would be odd if I were, since I have one myself. I think it can be good and necessary to express some anger on some subjects; I think writing and discussion would be badly impoverished if we eliminated all trace of anger. I’m just wondering what it is that makes our Maximum Critic so agitated about our anger and not Dawkins’s anger.
Greta has been wondering much the same thing about the Secular Policy Institute.
Does the “problem” of atheist leaders “getting media attention by causing controversy” include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Peter Boghossian, or any other fellows in your institute known for making controversial statements, both about religion and about other atheists? Also, does it include Michael Nugent, who in recent months has written 32 blog posts, totaling 75,000 words, criticizing PZ Myers? If not — why not? How do you decide which controversies are acceptable and which are not — and who gets to make that decision?
It’s actually more than 32; it’s 38 or 39 now, although 2 or 3 of those were more about me than about PZ. Since they’re around 4 to 5000 words each, it’s also way more than 75,000 words – though many of them are repeated over and over again, so it’s not that many original words. But you get the idea – 75k words is a very low estimate. Anyway – who is actually causing controversy around here? Is it really only those poopy Freethought bloggers?
No wonder the stereotype of a secular person is condescending and angry.
Do you have a problem with the image of atheists being condescending and angry when it comes to Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Peter Boghossian, or any other fellows in your institute known for their angry, cutting criticism of religion?
That’s what inspired me to go look at RD’s Twitter.