Professor Richard Dawkins
Professor Richard Dawkins, the Oxford professor for the public understanding of science, is fairly well known. He is probably Britain's most well known atheist. In the year 2006 he published his best-selling work, "The God Delusion", which aims to prove that rational, scientific inquiry makes it fairly plain that, well, God exists only in the minds of the deluded.
Dawkins' book has had a pretty hard time at from critical reviewers, and the professor has earned himself something of a reputation as a mirror image of the kind of unthinking, reactionary, "fundamentalist" bigot he believes himself to be opposing. Dawkins believes that "science" strongly supports his hard-line atheist views. His critics experience chronic disbelief at Dawkins' amazing inability to see how many of his conclusions do not flow from any empirical evidence, but from the materialist philosophy which he presupposes and then uses as an interpretative grid for all the evidence to be forced through.
My point, though, is not to critique the professor or his books (you can go here for one of my responses, and here for a more serious one). My point is to point out that two things concerning the "British Centre for Science Education":
- Firstly, the BCSE publicly present themselves as being neutral on religious issues, whereas in fact its leaders are generally first-class Dawkins' fans. They are not neutral at all, but generally share Dawkins' own beliefs and agenda that supernatural beliefs are a positive evil to be fought against and removed from the world. (This statement is not true for 100% of the BCSE leadership; others may not be atheists but have their own reasons for campaigning against supernaturalism).
- Secondly, then, having pointed out the BCSE leaders' true general beliefs, my purpose is to point out the BCSE's dishonesty in pretending to believe something else.
Articles
- The BCSE And Richard Dawkins - how the BCSE's response to Richard Dawkins' reported plans to push his message into schools demonstrated obvious hypocrisy.
- On Richard Dawkins' website, the BCSE's founder and official spokesman, giving his assessment of evangelical Christians as follows: "they are all the same as hardline fascists, BNPers, white supremicists, Abu Hamza fans, Marxists, racists, homophobes, Trotskyites, Leninists, Maoists, Northern Ireland paramilitaries, KKKers - all birds of a feather."
- One Darwinist activist and fringe BCSE supporter complains that "many posters prattle on about Dawkins' nonsense about religion being a virus and faith contrary to reason (and moderators delete my posts if I challenge them)"