Dawkins to preach atheism to US

Rrose Selavy

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Rrose Selavy
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Priest?, Preach? Church? Crusade? Someone's overdosed on the religious vocabulary, deliberately ironically or not.

RICHARD DAWKINS, the British scientist who has become the high priest of atheism, is launching a crusade in America to win new recruits to the church of nonbelievers.
He is to embark on a lecture tour of 2,000-seater halls in the Bible Belt and the Midwest in the wake of the presidential primary season, which reaches its climax in early February.
Dawkins, whose book The God Delusion has sold 1.5m copies in the English language, has teamed up with Robin Wight, the man behind some of Britain’s most memorable advertising campaigns, to make it respectable to admit to being an atheist.
No presidential candidate could hope to survive in the polls in America if he or she admitted to doubts about the existence of God.

Wight, who was behind the slogan “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange”, is helping to rebrand atheists in a less negative light.
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I hope this won't be a rebranding like the controversial "brights", but I like the follwing quote, sounds a good enough reason to go:

Rev David Cox, of the First Southern Methodist Church, Charleston, South Carolina said: “I would certainly like to protest. [Dawkins] is a tool of Satan, of the AntiChrist it sounds to me. All God-fearing people will be opposed to an atheist touring.”
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full report here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3087486.ece
 
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Cool. Because all god-mocking people are opposed to bible bashers touring... but they do it anyhow.

(note to Christians) "Free speech"-- it isn't just for the people who believe like you!
 
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Obviously I don't agree with atheism being presented as a religion, but that just seems to be the way that many Christians, who need to view everything in a religious context, interpret it. Open dialogue is important, as is the freedom to speak about the problems with most of our religious beliefs, even if Dawkins is only 'preaching to the choir' so to speak. He's most likely not going to win any converts, but he will give many closeted atheists a chance to come out.

Also--
Religious leaders in America dismissed Dawkins and his followers. The Rev David Cox, of the First Southern Methodist Church, Charleston, South Carolina said: “I would certainly like to protest. [Dawkins] is a tool of Satan, of the AntiChrist it sounds to me. All God-fearing people will be opposed to an atheist touring.”
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Anything that pisses off religious crybabies this much can't possibly be a bad thing. :cool:

(Hehe, Reverend Cox...)
 
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Rrose Selavy said:
Priest?, Preach? Church? Crusade? Someone's overdosed on the religious vocabulary, deliberately ironically or not.
Click to expand...

Dawkins seems to like the religious/secular juxtaposition - "devil's chaplin" "root of evil" "four horsemen" etc. etc. but it does cut both ways, as it does leave him somewhat open to misleading representions like in this context which implies atheism as ideology....


I hope this won't be a rebranding like the controversial "brights", but I like the follwing quote, sounds a good enough reason to go:
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"The future's bright, the future's brights" :)

good luck to the professor...a tour during the presidential race is an interesting idea - i expect it'll get a decent amount of publicity....
 
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Todays Fresh Air show (NPR) featured several guests who listed their "most notable" stories and trends of the year.
One mentioned was the "rise" of atheism; as personified by Dawkins and others. The commentator (I got into the segment late and didn't hear who it was, but the shows are available on streaming audio) thought it fascinating that heavy-duty discussions on the existence of God could take place on national news and talk shows these days.
 
Bikewer said:
Todays Fresh Air show (NPR) featured several guests who listed their "most notable" stories and trends of the year.
One mentioned was the "rise" of atheism; as personified by Dawkins and others. The commentator (I got into the segment late and didn't hear who it was, but the shows are available on streaming audio) thought it fascinating that heavy-duty discussions on the existence of God could take place on national news and talk shows these days.
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The internet makes it really easy to share information that governments and religions kept under tighter control in the past. I think atheism will spread very rapidly. It's hard to harness a mind long enough to brain wash it into theistic stupidity these days. But the stupid do spawn more...

I think 2008 year will be a good year for rationality.
 
andyandy said:
Dawkins seems to like the religious/secular juxtaposition - "devil's chaplin" "root of evil" "four horsemen" etc. etc. but it does cut both ways, as it does leave him somewhat open to misleading representions like in this context which implies atheism as ideology....




"The future's bright, the future's brights" :)

good luck to the professor...a tour during the presidential race is an interesting idea - i expect it'll get a decent amount of publicity....
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Although to be fair, Dawkins himself was against naming his show "The Root of All Evil."

Dawkins has said that the title "The Root of All Evil?" was not his preferred choice, but that Channel 4 had insisted on it to create controversy.[1] The sole concession from the producers on the title was the addition of the question mark. Dawkins has stated that the notion of anything being the root of all evil is ridiculous.[2]
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I think I can understand why the TV station would insist. From their perpective they want higher ratings, and so they want controversy. I think that there is a modern problem (call it the Ann Coulter effect perhaps) that if you don't say something outrageous and offensive to some, nobody notices you at all. This is why you now have books with titles such as
Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning or The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 (Paperback) just to name a couple.

So if you only say things that are reasonable and defensible, you can't be heard over the general clamour (at least if you want any attention from general audiences).
 
Considering that it is unlikely that Dawkins often has an opportunity (?) to rub shoulders with the ardently, obstinately and proudly ignorant, maybe this is simply an opportunity for him to 'know thine enemy'

???
 
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