26 thoughts on “Dog bites man story: Dawkins refuses to pray”

  2. It’s just a guess but mine would be, Richard Dawkins is doing the same thing he has consistently done over the years and that would be to tell all those of religious convictions to keep it to themselves and not intrude on the rest of us.

  4. The actual piece is decent, and is drawing attention to an interview Richard gave (which is about among other things the rise of nonbelief in the Kingdom). The headline is more of a clickbait opener, rather than commentary. That doesn’t make it good, but its just clickbait. And it works, ironically, because we fall for it.

    1. I don’t see the piece as decent; I see it as noninformative. Its content:
      1. Dawkins has stroke, won’t pray
      2. England less religious than before (not relevant)
      3. Dawkins decries Islam.

      It’s a very short article that isn’t worth reading at all.

      1. Dawkins seems to have done a couple of interviews in the last week that are worth reading.

        Here is one with the BBC.

        Clickbait snippet:

        “”I’ve given up Twitter,” Prof Dawkins says quietly but curtly. The tweets that appear in his name, apparently, are the work of the staff at his Foundation for Reason and Science.

        “I occasionally ask them to post something, which they do, but I’ve given up doing it myself.””

        1. One tries to have an influence, no matter how small, so it is gratifying to see that his response was said curtly.

        2. I’s about time he got off twitter. It’s very difficult to do nuance on twitter, given the 140 character limit, and Dawkins is someone who sorely needs to do nuance.

      2. And here’s one from The Times (paywall).

        Clickbait snippets (more of them owing to the paywall):

        “There does seem to be a tendency among some students, perhaps the less intelligent students, to suppress free speech. It’s to do with political correctness, but I hope it doesn’t last long.”

        “He is thrilled that The God Delusion has recently been translated, unofficially, into Arabic and circulated online. “It’s been downloaded ten million times, mostly in Saudi Arabia, but also in Iran and Iraq.”

        “I’m all for offending people’s religion. I think it should be offended at every opportunity.”

        “It is his books that will be his greatest legacy, he says. “Although I deeply love my daughter and I would like to have descendants, I think my words matter more than my genes.””

        1. Hearing those, I tend to agree that there was something worthwhile in this article despite the praying clickbait. Just because we’ve heard a lot about Richard’s thinking and opinions doesn’t mean everyone has. He’s good at keeping the cause in the news.

  6. For people that gradually give up their religious beliefs, a frequent contributing factor is the observation that prayer doesn’t actually work. So, not praying isn’t a sign of willfulness, but more a recognition of the futility of the act.

  7. A shame that PuffHo also chose to print a non-flattering photo, where RD looks like he’s yelling at someone. Guess that’s because he’s so “strident.”

    But, where does it say that Dawkins “refused to pray?” I can’t see it in the PuffHo article. Do I sense a straw man?

  8. They are not getting my click. I’m just waiting for a close friend of Dawkins, preferably one that has travel with him in a car, to enlighten me.

  9. My normal response to an existential crisis (boulders moving below my feet, or above my head and to both sides; helicopter engine cutting out on landing approach, for examples) is to mutter “Stercus, Stercus, Stercus. Moriturius sum!”
    Since that is intended to translate, approximately, as “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. THIS time I’m really going to die!” I am not sure it would be recognised as a prayer to the great god Stercus.
    I’m not going to begrudge anyone calling on the God Of Clean Underwear in extremis.

    1. I wish it clearly understood that if I am ever heard to scream “Jeeeeezus!” at some moment when it seems inevitable that I will, imminently and personally, enhance the scenery, this is an expletive and not a supplication.

      (I usually try to yell “F******ck” instead, but my selection of epiphets in moments of stress tends to be random).

      cr

      1. When I was learning rock climbing, we were taught that, if worse came to worst, we should call out “Falling” to alert our belayer. I always thought that would take incredible presence of mind at such a time, but figured I’d yell something else that would transmit the message just as effectively.

      2. Volume is more important than coherency. Though I do try to remember to invoke the Seven Meaty Balls at appropriate times.

  12. In other news, Water flows downhill: Gravity still working.

    Maybe PuffHo was confused by the fact that Richard recently supported (on free speech grounds) the right of the C of E to run adverts for prayer in cinemas. He considered the ads ‘no more offensive than ads for soap powder’.

    But moderation should not be confused with indecision.

    cr

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