This feels like one of those rare moments where we look back and think about just how different things were culturally at one time. Rich Dawkins, Christopher Hitchins and a few others were once on the front lines of religious criticism and atheism. They didn't like Islam, largely supported the US in the "war on terror" but also criticized Christianity quite hard. They'd appear on PBS, new shows, radio shows, college campuses etc to have open debates on a variety of these types of topics. Today that culture of intellectual debate is largely dead, replaced by culture war obsessions from the far right and pure identity politics from the left. There is no market for a British atheist thinker today. The type of person who may have bought his books 20 years ago is now entirely obsessed with transsexuals or DEI.
I'm not sure whether Dawkins is just trying to pay the bills or maintain the lifestyle he built with his previous success. Either way it's a cynical shift for someone I used to find interesting. This isn't the first time he's taken a rightward turn though. Just a few years ago he was flirting with racial IQ "science." I hope fukks understand how bad this is. We've got a society that doesn't read anymore, doesn't value expertise, and doesn't care about intellectuals or debate. We just have large groups of people obsessing over whatever the Bad Thing Of The Month is. Critical race theory? Trannies in bathrooms? DEI? Just endless bullshyt to yell about while important issues are ignored or sidelined.
He’s not doing it to “pay the bills”. Dawkins has been flirting with this topic for awhile now.
What’s happening is he’s seeing the truth for what it is: Christianity created stable, safe, moral, content societies. Religion is more than belief of something, it’s typically the bedrock of society. It’s why Black Americans were able to organize successful movements during the most hostile years in the country: we went to church, we built our community AROUND church, our standards came from the church. That’s when everyone walked around with their head high and with dignity.
Dawkins always wanted to push against the “God” aspect in religion, not realizing that it’s far more than that. Everyone believes in something will ALWAYS believe in something. Christianity created order, unity and peace of mind for the members of the community that practiced.
He wanted to destroy that because “God” is offensive to him. Now he got his wish, less people believe in the Christian God and therefore allowed Islam to rise and spread rapidly. He’s seeing what we are all seeing, though many scared to admit: Islam creates hostility, anti-women tropes, and increase violence. Islam followers are known for their “backwards” interpretation and implantation of their ideologies.
Dawkins sees this is reminisces on the benefits he got by living in a Christian society.
neg all you want but deep down you know is the absolute truth.
