Poll: Reactions to Richard Dawkins

[chriscase]

Why do we dislike or like Richard Dawkins? Does it have anything to do with whether we agree with him?

[Tankbuster]

I don't. I think he looks like quite a friendly and reasonable chap. He's a great promoter of science, and a fantastic teacher. His books have been hailed practically universally and are very well-written. I also tend to agree with his views on religion, for the most part. I also disagree on things, but I'd still say that he's pretty dead on.
He's a very rational man, he doesn't engage in 'ad-hominems' a lot (if at all), and he never loses sight of the argument he's making.
A very good front-man for the New Atheist movement, really.

It's very ironic that Dawkins is portrayed to be this horrible Atheist monster while he's really a harmless little fuzzball in reality. What they consider offensive is his 'attitude' of questioning religious faith. Well, I think that's something the religious will have to get used to.

The one thing that annoys me about him is that he always repeats his points several times, as to make it absolutely clear for everyone. That's part of the reason why he's such a great teacher, but the pace could go a bit faster for me. But that's a very small criticism, and not applicable to everyone, obviously (not trying to sound smug).

Theists start their barrage of irrationality in 5,4,3,2,1,...

[Del Valle]

He seems like a nice guy, I just don't like his views on religion at all.

He also seems a bit too pushy and the "i'm right attitude and you're stupid" attitude of his is somewhat arrogant.

[boofhead]

He's a douche. He gets off on shoving things in people's faces when they aren't even interested. Or at least, his fanboys do and he provides the ammo.

He's the equivalent of the gay mardis gras in Mecca.

[Tigrul]

He's a douche. He gets off on shoving things in people's faces when they aren't even interested. Or at least, his fanboys do and he provides the ammo.

He's the equivalent of the gay mardis gras in Mecca.

He's actually one of the most civil persons to ever express opinions in public. He's a lot more respectful than any of the other main figures of militant atheism and he's a biology professor at the #2 university in the whole world, which means he also has a solid academic base.

I'd expect someone to talk this way about Christopher Hitchens, for instance, but when it comes to Richard Dawkins, it's almost obvious that those who despise him do so over his opinions on religion. You'd probably love him if he were a christian.

But hey, let me be fair here: offer any quote, any whatsoever, or video, or any recording of him, in which he does something which would qualify him as a douche. If you really have a good reason to hate him, and it's not just your !%$ talking, then it should be very easy.

Provide us with a source, that we can all check, see for ourselves, which shows why Richard Dawkins is as you say he is.

[boofhead]

Provide us with a source, that we can all check, see for ourselves, which shows why Richard Dawkins is as you say he is.

Typical Dawkinite. Demanding ''evidence''.

The only evidence required is the fact that he is a poster-boy for atheists. That is enough. 5 billion people really don't care, but you've got to hear about this galoot and his opinions anyways.

[Desperado †]

Typical Dawkinite. Demanding ''evidence''.

The only evidence required is the fact that he is a poster-boy for atheists. That is enough. 5 billion people really don't care, but you've got to hear about this galoot and his opinions anyways.

Wait, so does that make Jesus a douche?

[Phier]

I think I'd get along quite well with Dawkins, but then I agree with him at least in biology matters and religion.

[chriscase]

Typical Dawkinite. Demanding ''evidence''.

The only evidence required is the fact that he is a poster-boy for atheists. That is enough. 5 billion people really don't care, but you've got to hear about this galoot and his opinions anyways.

Hey boof, do any of the poll options work for you? Or do I need to add one? What am I missing?

[chriscase]

He seems like a pretty likeable guy to me too, but I also generally agree with him. So that's what I am wondering. If I really disagreed strongly with him, might I have a different personal reaction?

I bet Otto would not like Richard Dawkins, but it's just a guess:

[chriscase]

BTW please give feedback on poll choices. Are there too many? Not enough? Did I miss something? I'm trying to make the phrasing neutral enough so everyone will be at least somewhat comfortable with an option.

[Tigrul]

1. 4 billion people don't care about christianity, and yet posterboys for christianity are everywhere. You, for one, just have to look in the mirror to see one.
2. Who is making you hear his opinions?! If you don't want to hear his opinions, then just avoid reading things about him. For crying out loud, you really hate the fact that he's using his freedom of speech to express his opinions... although you want to have the same freedom to express your views. No one is forcing you to know his opinions. You, by your own free will, accept to find out about his opinions.
3. So... no evidence? Well... that's good enough for me. I never really had a doubt about what kind of person you are, but the more people get to see what you're made of, the better.

[the_mango55]

I disagree with his views on religion.

And I dislike him on a personal level because he created the term "meme" which is like my least favorite word, and easily the most overused word on the internet.

[Каие]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4mLGmPMvls

After watching this, my opinions on him changed substantially.

I voted for;
Richard Dawkins seems like a nice guy; I think I'd enjoy talking with him. I disagree strongly with his views on religion.

By that, I don't mean reject evolution, since I fully believe in it... or even traditional secularism..

[My Favorite Martian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4mLGmPMvls

After watching this, my opinions on him changed substantially.

I voted for;
Richard Dawkins seems like a nice guy; I think I'd enjoy talking with him. I disagree strongly with his views on religion.

By that, I don't mean reject evolution, since I fully believe in it... or even traditional secularism..

He may be too kind.

[Claudius Gothicus]

On a personal level he seems like a nice guy, he also holds some excellent points regarding religion and of course know his Biology.
The only thing that I don't really like about the guy is the way he compares religion to a virus, calls religious folks deluded and uses certain situations to ridicule them and prove his point when he can do that very well without resorting to such tricks.
But yeah maybe my vote went a little wrong because I misunderstood the poll, on a personal level he must be a nice guy.

[TWoxy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4mLGmPMvls

After watching this, my opinions on him changed substantially.

Ironically, he appears to possess the patience of a saint when dealing with that woman.

[Machiavelli25]

I find him uninteresting.

[S.L.I.G]

I dislike Richard Dawkins on a personal level; I disagree somewhat with his views on religion.

I agree with him that a lot of religious belief is brought about by ignorance, irrationality, etc. I agree with him that religion has caused a lot of death and slowed down the progress of man. What I disagree with him in is that religion is the cause of that. It's not. Man has caused it. Dawkins constantly rambles on about how old irrational traditions like religion or horoscopes-or whatever the hell- are this evil. It's all so idealistic. As if the world would be better under the rationality of atheism? I'm sorry, Atheism is a lack of belief. That doesn't make the person, or even the reasoning behind the lack of belief, at all rational. Some atheists may come about it for a logical reason, many don't. At the end of the day any ideology/religion- anything really- can be abused to slow the progress of man, kill people, give false hope or whatever.

When he blames religion, and he most certainly does, he proves himself to be an arrogant naive douche. So ultimately, [even though I believe in god myself] some of his views on religion I think have legitimacy, though the end results of his thought process I disagree with, and as a result, I find him to be a douchebag.

Pretty simple.

Edit: And just to add: He's an extremist. He is actually ed up enough to call himself a fundamentalist Atheist. He takes the same extremism, the same narrow mindedness, the same arrogance and base idiocy of religious orders and he applies it to "a lack of". NEWSFLASH: ATHEISM IS NOT A ING MOVEMENT. You don't go about forming ing atheist organizations or attempt to promote it, its not a dogma. It just IS. The guy's just sucking dry as much money and attention he can by whoring himself out, and atheism out, to the media. The fact that hes doing that alone is ing pathetic, let alone [as above] the other moronic conclusions he alludes to.

[Dr. Croccer]

Neutral and disagree. He doesn't seem that bad nor good but I disagree with alot of the stuff he says about religion or implies.