cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4479372

Richard Dawkins accused student protesters of antisemitism at his panel event - then runs away from questions about it

  • ta00000 [none/use name]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Sometimes I feel like (our particular brand of) Christians are getting too powerful again in the US and we need the reddit atheists to return, but then this guy opens his mouth.

    • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      The "Reddit atheists" have become the cultural Christians now. Dawkins refers to himself as a cultural Christian. A new generation of of Reddit atheists will just produce the same result, more secular people invested in cultural conservatism and imperial hegemony. As Samir Amin writes in Eurocentrism:

      Contrary to a widespread Eurocentric preconception, however, secularism is not peculiar to Christian society, which demanded its liberation from the heavy yoke of the church. Nor is it the result of the conflict between the "national" state and a church with a universal vocation. For during the Reformation, the church is in fact "national" in its various forms--Anglican, Lutheran, and so forth. Nevertheless, the new fusion of church and state does not produce a new theocracy, but rather, one might say, a religious secularism. Secularism, even though the reactionary ecclesiastical forces fought it, did not root out belief. It even, perhaps, reinforced it in the long run, by freeing it of its formalist and mythological straightjackets. Christians of our time, whether or not they are intellectuals, have no problem accepting that humankind descended from apes and not from Adam and Eve.

      The kind of secularism promoted by "Reddit atheists" does not reduce the belief and support of traditional Christian or Western values or Eurocentric thought, in fact it reinforces them, because now people are free to believe in those values without having to engage in anti intellectual stuff like denying the theory of evolution or the big bang, or believing that mythological parables from the Bible are meant to be taken literally.

      We don't need "Reddit atheists", we need materialists.

      • davel [he/him]
        ·
        6 months ago

        Racist atheists. Western chauvinist atheists. Imperialist atheists.

        I’m not familiar with New Atheism’s origins, but if it wasn’t created as War on Terror apologia, it certainly was used that way by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and many others. As a lifelong atheist who saw through the Iraq WMD lies from the start, I was horrified to watch how New Atheism played out.

        Why the arguments of the 'New Atheists' are often just as violent as religion

        Celebrity atheists such as Richard Dawkins appear to claim the moral high ground when it comes to violence. Dawkins, along with Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens, insist that because religion is intrinsically violent, then atheism is inherently more pacific. After all, if all the evils in the world can be blamed on religion, then arguably eliminating religion is not only desirable but a moral obligation for atheists who believe in peace.

        Yet our research shows that in the War on Terror, these atheists have been surprisingly willing to align themselves with policies which are at least as violent – and in some cases more so – than many of those perpetrated in the name of religion.

        • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          6 months ago

          Exactly. Watch the debate between Michael Parenti and Christopher Hitchens to see exactly what you are talking about. Showcases all the limits of the new atheist movement.

          https://youtu.be/jzkmP3XFFX8

        • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
          ·
          6 months ago

          I don’t think it was created as such, but all the guys you mentioned were either naive useful idiots or really believed in the US state department line. Hitchens was an Iraq War cheerleader and considering the rest have proven they care more about being Islamophobic than atheist, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had been as well.

      • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
        ·
        6 months ago

        The kind of secularism promoted by "Reddit atheists" does not reduce the belief and support of traditional Christian or Western values or Eurocentric thought, in fact it reinforces them, because now people are free to believe in those values without having to engage in anti intellectual stuff like denying the theory of evolution or the big bang, or believing that mythological parables from the Bible are meant to be taken literally.

        surely it's easier to break people of these beliefs when they don't think it's ordained by the omnipotent creator of the universe.

    • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
      ·
      6 months ago

      Yeah I'd like to keep the lid on that can of worms for now, at least

  • Wheaties [she/her]
    ·
    6 months ago

    I feel like we're speedruning the Bush presidency here -- all the same figures popping up to try and justify imperial violence, tripping over themselevs when pressed on the details.

    Only, where you would have weeks, months, sometimes years between initial 'Justification' and inevitable 'tripping', now it's happening practically in the same day

  • DragonBallZinn [he/him]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Richard Dawkins is going to become an evangelical in the next 5 years, isn't he?

    "Dude, as a heterosexual white man in Christianity, you get to treat everyone around you like shit, and they're not allowed to do anything back because you're God's middle manager! Sign up now, it's the best deal ever!"

  • supafuzz [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    oh so religion is fine as long as they hate muslims as much as you do ricky?

    • iridaniotter [she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      yeah cause he's not an atheist, he's a muslim hater. he adopts whatever ideology suits that. see: his adoption of intelligent design in order to be transphobic

      • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
        ·
        6 months ago

        yeah cause he's not an atheist

        uhhhh i'm pretty sure he hasn't started believing in god. Atheism is literally only about believing in deities or not, it's not even about skepticism for shit like bigfoot, literally just not-theism.

  • SteamedHamberder [he/him]
    ·
    6 months ago

    While most of the pieces calling Dawkins an antisemite come from neocon ghouls, the proverbial broken clock is right sometimes.

    • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
      ·
      6 months ago

      While most of the pieces calling Dawkins an antisemite come from neocon ghouls

      spidermanpointingatspiderman.jpg

  • Angel [any]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Make Atheism Based (Communist) Again

  • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    6 months ago

    "British scientists don't like Richard Dawkins, finds study that didn't even ask questions about Richard Dawkins."

    One of my favorites. I won't link it. Sorry. I'm a LIB and also I broke my adblocker so it's blocking anything that isn't Lemmy or access to Hades II.

  • batsforpeace [any, any]
    ·
    6 months ago

    funny to see his gears spinning in slow motion and then be like OH WAIT.. don't record this!

  • Krono@lemmy.today
    ·
    6 months ago

    Ugh, I'm a huge fan of his books on evolution. They really bring out a deep wonder and understanding of the natural world. But this must be what Harry Potter fans feel like when they hear their Terf author speak.

    Dawkins coined the word "meme", how can he be so culturally ignorant? Old man should shut his yap, stop yelling at clouds and stick to science.

  • CarbonScored [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Where are the original accusations? Right now this is just a clip of a guy saying doesn't want to be recorded.