Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 26, 2010 at 10:20am

Smart and classy!

Just so you know, Shine, good wine is not served in a pitcher. It comes in a box. :p

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Permalink Reply by Silenus on February 25, 2010 at 1:51pm

Dawkins is over rated, and a lot of atheist seem to have a "cult of personality" of dawkins.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 25, 2010 at 1:53pm

Care to elaborate? Or was that for shock value?

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Permalink Reply by Silenus on February 25, 2010 at 2:09pm

What dawkins has done "as an atheist" is over-blown by the media, and by a lot of atheist. His book 'the god delusion' might have been an "eye opener" for a lot of non-believers, but so can reading the bible from cover to cover, or a lot of other things that will open you to the truth.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 25, 2010 at 3:45pm

What exactly is being stated about Dawkins that is over blown? In other words, what claims are being made about Dawkins do you feel are unjustified?

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Permalink Reply by Silenus on February 26, 2010 at 8:58am

The media gives most of the credit to the rise of atheism to dawkins. But they also give out credit to others like hitchens and harris, but mostly its dawkins. To say dawkins is the "number 1" like the media seems to imply, is a vast overstatement. There are others that have said basically the same things as dawkins, in the past and in the present. I guess dawkins is just in the right time and knows the right way to market himself to the media.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 26, 2010 at 10:18am

Well, I guess that makes sense. But what doesn't the media overhype? If they are mentioning it, then they are hyping it. I guess if you use the media to gauge things, then Dawkins is over rated. But from the metrics I use, he seems rated perfectly fine. He has done a lot to popularize the scientific and atheistic position, as have others. I don't think he is over rated (or under rated), but I don't pay much attention to the media, I guess.

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Permalink Reply by Graham E. Lau on February 26, 2010 at 4:39am

So we should respect art, but since Michelangelo or Picasso are well known we should forget about what they've done?

We should respect politics, but since Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are well known in America for their political viewpoints we shouldn't read what they had to say?

Robin Williams and the crew from Monty Python helped shape how we express humor in our modern day, but since they were famous we should consider them to be of less value?

What exactly are you saying? That since Richard Dawkins has gained some fame due to how much he's done for free thought and biology that we should for some reason give him less credibility?

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 26, 2010 at 7:39am

I wondered if that was it, but I wanted him to tell me instead of jumping to conclusions.

I once worked with a guy long ago that listened to all these obscure bands. As soon as one of his favorite bands got airplay for a song on the radio, he considered them mainstream and would stop listening to them altogether.

My guess, since we are slow in getting a response, is that Forrest does not have anything specific to point to and simply feels that Dawkins is "overrated" because of his fame. But, it is exactly the things that Dawkins has done that has led to his fame, so I don't really understand how he is overrated.

It's not as if anyone is saying that without Dawkins, the route to atheism would not be open. But that is what Forrest seems to imply when he states "his book 'the god delusion' might have been an "eye opener" for a lot of non-believers, but so can reading the bible from cover to cover, or a lot of other things that will open you to the truth".

Unless Forrest can elaborate, I'm left to assume that he is like my coworker from years ago and simply doesn't like to run with the crowd. I can respect that somewhat, but many times there is a good reason for the crowd to be running.

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Permalink Reply by Silenus on February 26, 2010 at 9:08am

I never questioned his credibility, i just said he was over-rated for what he has done for atheism. Dawkins is a very intelligent person, i was never said we should give him less credit for his scientific work. But what he has done for atheism is not anything special compared to his own scientific work, and other very well known "freethinkers" in the past and the present.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 26, 2010 at 10:25am

But what he has done for atheism is not anything special compared to his own scientific work, and other very well known "freethinkers" in the past and the present.

I don't necessarily disagree with that. I think Dawkins himself has said that he is not offering any novel arguments against theism. But your statements imply that people are suggesting that or something along those lines. If the media is the main culprit, well, we can add that to the long list of complaints about the media.

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Permalink Reply by Jānis Ķimsis on February 26, 2010 at 12:32pm

I think that the main reason Dawkins is considered so influential is because he combines the no-nonsense approach to religion of Hitchens with Sagans knack for making science interesting and inspirational.

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