Tuesday, November 17, 2009

What? Another mean-spirited New Atheist?!

Richard Dawkins, apparently not wanting to be left behind by Christopher Hitchens hyperbole, takes his own shots at the Catholic Church:

"Rome is possibly "the greatest force for evil in the world," Dawkins announces, "a disgusting institution" that is "dragging its flowing skirts in the dirt and touting for business like a common pimp."

Ah, the sweet smell of religious bigotry.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Professor You of all people should know not to quote a second hand source, out of context


If you read the actual article written in context rather than segmented into a sensationalist report on that low rent blog post, it was quite different

"I didn't describe the RC Church as the greatest force for evil in the world. I said it was 'surely up there with the leaders', which is rather different. It wasn't pimps' skirts that I had in mind as dragging in the dirt but priests' skirts. The claim that Anglican church affairs are none of my business will ring hollow to any British citizen, where 26 Bishops are, by law, unelected Members of the Upper House of Parliament. Neither Mr Thompson, nor any of the Catholics who have attacked me for 'raving' or 'hate speech' etc have actually denied any of the charges that I made. The RC Church really does teach the dotty notion of transubstantiation, it really does teach that only men, not women, are capable of performing the trick, it really does tell lies about the alleged inefficacy of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, it really does promote prejudice against homosexuals, and it really does cover up the crime of sexually molesting children. If any apologist wishes to deny any of these factual claims, let them do so. Simply to hurl abuse at me is not good enough. Deny the charges or shut up."

Brad Wright said...

"Up there with the leaders" of evil in the world is what I was referring to...

Knumb said...

I've started to think of this type of atheist as the kid who acts out, looking for attention.

Or, better, as a nascent bigot who has found a people group he can openly deride.

In either case, the wrestling with pigs cliche comes into play.

K T Cat said...

Rats! They're on to us! I was hoping that all my volunteer efforts would have hidden my intents better than this, but it's clear now that the mask has fallen!