Richard Dawkins

About Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins Wikipedia page (including sections on his work in the areas of evolutionary biology, memetics, and religion, and a list of his books). Richard Dawkins: An atheist's call to arms - 30 min. TED Talks video from February 2002 in which Dawkins calls for "militant atheism" and says "My approach to attacking creationism is to attack religion as a whole". Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching, a review of The God Delusion by Terry Eagleton, London Review of Books, Oct. 19, 2006. Gentle rottweiler: Laurie Taylor interviews Richard Dawkins, New Humanist, January/February 2007. Dawkins interview about The Enemies of Reason, 7 min., Aug 14, 2007. The New Atheists on Organized Freethought (51 MB MP3), Humanist Network News, October 24, 2007. (Dawkins interview starts at 17 min. Harris, Dennett and Hitchens are also interviewed.) Freethought Radio Archives, 3rd program - Special Guest: Richard Dawkins, March 8, 2008 (a 36 min. MP3 audio file edited for broadcast on WIDE-LP. Interview of Dawkins starts at 7 min. 45 sec.). Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion, the Capital Times, 3/12/2008. Quotes from email following Dawkins' UW talk on March 11, 2008 #1 "A couple of us felt it was a bit preachy and not an exciting or in-depth talk. I did come away knowing that Dawkins views the universe with awe, and thus don't feel as cranky as I did when he seemed to reject anyone who might feel a tinge of 'spirituality.'" #2 "I went to the talk, and I found it very stimulating. He was uncompromising in his denunciation of religion." #3 "I didn’t think that Dawkins had much of substance to contribute to the ‘choir’ that was in attendance." #4 "I was there, and he was very good. Interesting, and as any good speaker gave me some things to thing about." Quotes from writing by Dawkins A Devil's Chaplain, Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003: p. 117 - "In Viruses of the Mind I developed this theme of religions as mind parasites, and also the analogy with computer viruses.... To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as contemptuous or even hostile. It is both." p. 151 - "To an honest judge, the alleged convergence between religion and science is a shallow, empty, hollow, spin-doctored sham." p. 156, 7 - "'To blame Islam for what happened in New York is like blaming Christianity for the troubles in Northern Ireland!' Yes. Precisely. It is time to stop pussyfooting around. Time to get angry. And not only with Islam. ... Let our tribute to the September dead be a new resolve: to respect people for what they individually think, rather than respect groups for what they were collectively brought up to believe." p. 161 - "Only the wilfully blind could fail to implicate the divisive force of religion in most, if not all, of the violent enmities in the world today. Those of us who have for years politely concealed our contempt for the dangerous collective delusion of religion need to stand up and speak out. Things are different after September 11th."

About Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins Wikipedia page (including sections on his work in the areas of evolutionary biology, memetics, and religion, and a list of his books).

Richard Dawkins: An atheist's call to arms - 30 min. TED Talks video from February 2002 in which Dawkins calls for "militant atheism" and says "My approach to attacking creationism is to attack religion as a whole".

Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching, a review of The God Delusion by Terry Eagleton, London Review of Books, Oct. 19, 2006.

Gentle rottweiler: Laurie Taylor interviews Richard Dawkins, New Humanist, January/February 2007.

Dawkins interview about The Enemies of Reason, 7 min., Aug 14, 2007.

The New Atheists on Organized Freethought (51 MB MP3), Humanist Network News, October 24, 2007. (Dawkins interview starts at 17 min. Harris, Dennett and Hitchens are also interviewed.)

Freethought Radio Archives, 3rd program - Special Guest: Richard Dawkins, March 8, 2008 (a 36 min. MP3 audio file edited for broadcast on WIDE-LP. Interview of Dawkins starts at 7 min. 45 sec.).

Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion, the Capital Times, 3/12/2008.

Quotes from email following Dawkins' UW talk on March 11, 2008 #1 "A couple of us felt it was a bit preachy and not an exciting or in-depth talk. I did come away knowing that Dawkins views the universe with awe, and thus don't feel as cranky as I did when he seemed to reject anyone who might feel a tinge of 'spirituality.'"
#2 "I went to the talk, and I found it very stimulating. He was uncompromising in his denunciation of religion."
#3 "I didn’t think that Dawkins had much of substance to contribute to the ‘choir’ that was in attendance."
#4 "I was there, and he was very good. Interesting, and as any good speaker gave me some things to thing about."

Quotes from writing by Dawkins A Devil's Chaplain, Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003:
p. 117 - "In Viruses of the Mind I developed this theme of religions as mind parasites, and also the analogy with computer viruses.... To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as contemptuous or even hostile. It is both."
p. 151 - "To an honest judge, the alleged convergence between religion and science is a shallow, empty, hollow, spin-doctored sham."
p. 156, 7 - "'To blame Islam for what happened in New York is like blaming Christianity for the troubles in Northern Ireland!' Yes. Precisely. It is time to stop pussyfooting around. Time to get angry. And not only with Islam. ... Let our tribute to the September dead be a new resolve: to respect people for what they individually think, rather than respect groups for what they were collectively brought up to believe."
p. 161 - "Only the wilfully blind could fail to implicate the divisive force of religion in most, if not all, of the violent enmities in the world today. Those of us who have for years politely concealed our contempt for the dangerous collective delusion of religion need to stand up and speak out. Things are different after September 11th."