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Oxford professor and celebrity atheist Richard Dawkins joined Bill Maher Friday night to talk about his personal evolution from theism to atheism, why a scientific view of the universe does not entail a series of random events, and which public figures he believes are secretly atheists.Maher and Dawkins agreed that people like them are often called “militant” atheists, when, in fact, the real problem people have with them is their “clarity” and how steadfast they are on these issues. Dawkins acknowledged he used to be religious, adding, “When I became a man I put away childish things.”Dawkins dispelled some truly...

The atheist community hailed last year’s scientific confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson, for which the British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs was co-recipient this past week of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Higgs had theorized, all the way back in 1964, that there must be something that gives subatomic particles their mass, which enables them to form atoms, which, in turn, form molecules, all of which is integral to creation as we know it. That something turned out to be the Higgs boson. And its discovery, declared Dan Barker, co-president of the so-called Freedom From Religion Foundation, an...

How much pedophilia is just enough, or perhaps a wee bit too much remains unclear in the opinion of Oxford lecturer and author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion Richard Dawkins. Dawkins described sexual abuse among former classmates as "mild touching up" that allegedly did no “lasting harm.” Child welfare experts responded to Dawkins’ remarks with outrage — and concern over their effect on survivors of abuse.

Professor Richard Dawkins, known as the world’s most famous atheist, has risen to rock star status for his attacks on God and religion, in particular, his attacks on the God of the Bible. But when he recently criticized Muslims, he was in for a surprise. Before looking at Dawkins’ rather mild criticism of Muslims, let’s remember the depth of his vitriol against Christians and the Bible, most of which has only enhanced Dawkins’ reputation. In an April interview aired on the Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera, Dawkins railed on the Catholic Church, saying that, as “Horrible as sexual abuse no...

The video that you can see by clicking on the link just below this post title is that of a BBC lynch mob against Tommy Robinson of the English Defence League, during the programme called - a misnomer - FreeSpeech on BBC3. It is not free speech if you verbally abuse and even incite to murder someone for exercising his right to free speech, as it happens in this "debate". Interestingly, the comments to the video on YouTube reveal how the audience was cherry-picked by the BBC to fit its political bent and in no way represents the British general...

Richard Dawkins has been forced to defend controversial comments he made online after saying the last time Muslims contributed something worthwhile was during the Middle Ages. Prof Dawkins, the bestselling author of The God Delusion, wrote on Twitter that all the world's Muslims had won fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. He went on to argue that although Muslims were responsible for many achievements during the Dark Ages, including alchemy and algebra, their contribution since then was questionable. His comments sparked outrage from many high-profile writers and journalists including author Caitlin Moran and Channel 4 News Economics Editor Faisal...

Controversial atheist British professor Richard Dawkins has provoked outrage in a tweet he made deriding the lack of academic achievements by Muslims. On Thursday, the best-selling author of "The God Delusion," tweeted that: "All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.” That post provoked a slew of outraged responses, including accusations of "racism," and "Islamophobia." Responding to the fierce criticism, Dawkins retorted in another tweet: "Muslims aren't a race. What they have in common is a religion. Rather than Trinity, would you prefer the comparison with Jews?...

Famous atheist author Richard Dawkins has been named the world's top thinker in a global vote that counted 10,000 voices from over 100 countries."When Richard Dawkins, the Oxford evolutionary biologist, coined the term 'meme' in The Selfish Gene 37 years ago, he can't have anticipated its current popularity as a word to describe internet fads," said Prospect Magazine, which conducted the poll, in explaining the biologist professor's popularity."But this is only one of the ways in which he thrives as an intellectual in the internet age. He is also prolific on Twitter, with more than half a million followers – and...

Professor Richard Dawkins has claimed that forcing a religion on children without questioning its merits is as bad as 'child abuse'. In typically incendiary style, the leading atheist said he was against the 'indoctrination of religion' and teaching it as fact. The evolutionary scientist and Emeritus Fellow at Oxford University, speaking at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival yesterday, was repeating claims he made last year which were roundly condemned by charities and politicians. Professor Dawkins said at the festival that children should be taught religion but scorn should be poured on its claims. 'What a child should be taught is...

A video of a Californian Christian apologist who "Eastwooded" atheist author Richard Dawkins in response to Dawkins' refusal to debate him over the existence of God will soon be posted to YouTube. The video features Dr. William Lane Craig, a research professor of Philosophy and the New Testament at the Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, delivering remarks at Contending with Christianity's Critics Conference held at Watermark Community Church in Dallas on Sept. 29. During his remarks, Craig places an empty chair opposite his podium and has a dialogue with it, a la Clint Eastwood's much talked about speech...

Atheist Richard Dawkins is in Australia this week for the Global Atheist Convention which started in Melbourne on Good Friday, and on Monday night the academic faced up against Archbishop of Sydney George Pell, the highest ranked clergyman in Australia, in a televised debate on faith and religion. Pell, the Australian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, who has served in his position since 2001, took on Dawkins in a Q&A session hosted by ABC TV. Journalist Tony Jones moderated the debate, which he predicted would be an intense encounter between the two prominent figures. ''This is a...

Just as the atheist Richard Dawkins discloses he doubts God's non-existence, Richard Holloway, Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh, asserts his doubt in the Deity's existence. The atheist and the bishop have wound up at the same place. In the case of the world's most outspoken non-believer, the step is progression, but in the case of the leader in the Scottish Episcopal Church, the step is regression. "I can't be sure God does not exist," said Dawkins, crusader against belief in God, during a debate with the Archbishop of Canterbury February 24. The next day Holloway was quoted as saying he can't...

He is regarded as the most famous atheist in the world but last night Professor Richard Dawkins admitted he could not be sure that God does not exist. He told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, that he preferred to call himself an agnostic rather than an atheist. The two men were taking part in a public “dialogue” at Oxford University at the end of a week which has seen bitter debate about the role of religion in public life in Britain. Last week Baroness Warsi, the Tory party chairman, warned of a tide of “militant secularism” challenging the...

For the last several months there has been a flurry of discussion—mostly online, of course—about the impossibility of a literal Adam & Eve (see, e.g., here and here and here). This ruling-out has been accomplished recently by the Human Genome Project, which indicates that anatomically modern humans emerged from primate ancestors about 100,000 years ago, from a population of something like 10,000. In short, science has confirmed what many of us already knew: there was not a literal first couple. So what else can we learn from this story? Plenty, it turns out. Peter Enns, a biblical scholar who blogs...

The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room—a loft bed and the clutter of cast-off clothes—piled behind him. Alex Fiorentini isn’t talking about girls, beer or football. Instead, it’s a coming-out moment of sorts. “Is it acceptable to the majority of the population to be an atheist?” he asks the camera. “Nope. Are all of your friends going to accept you as an atheist? Probably not all of them. And yeah, those things are gonna suck. But the real question is, ‘Is it OK to be...

Christian apologist William Craig has offered a response to atheist intellectual Richard Dawkins who called him "a deplorable apologist for genocide" in his column last week. In a speech at the Sheldonian Theater at Oxford University on Tuesday, Craig responded to Dawkins' allegations during the question and answer session. “There was no racial war here, no command to kill them all,” he said, alluding to extermination of the Canaanites in the Old Testament, “the command was to drive them out.” He then said: “I would say that God has the right to give and take life as He sees fit....

Don't feel embarrassed if you've never heard of William Lane Craig. He parades himself as a philosopher, but none of the professors of philosophy whom I consulted had heard his name either. Perhaps he is a "theologian". For some years now, Craig has been increasingly importunate in his efforts to cajole, harass or defame me into a debate with him. I have consistently refused, in the spirit, if not the letter, of a famous retort by the then president of the Royal Society: "That would look great on your CV, not so good on mine". Craig's latest stalking foray has...

“Give me the child,” the Jesuit maxim is supposed to have run, “and I will give you the man”. But not if Richard Dawkins gets there first. The arch-atheist’s new book, The Magic of Reality, is designed to inoculate tender minds once and for all against the supernatural and its apologists. Actually, not just tender minds. While it’s aimed at children of 10 and up, the text is persuasive whatever one’s age. After all, Dawkins is a populariser as well as a proselytiser; his argument, beautifully complemented here by Dave McKean’s copious illustrations, has wonderful clarity.

This was originally going to be titled, “Agreeing With Richard Dawkins,” because one of the world’s most notorious Darwinists has offended feminists by telling them that there are worse things than being propositioned in a hotel elevator. But then I saw the video in which the atheist chick at the epicenter of this controversy made the complaint that prompted Dawkins’ rebuke and said, “Oh, hell.” This gets funny, so keep reading. Hat-tip to Ann Althouse, and thanks to commenter Joe for pointing it out.

Fifty years ago, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech at an antireligious rally, where he declared that the celebrated cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had confided to him that while in space, he had peered into the infinite distance before him, but could find no traces of God.  Someone in the audience is alleged to have murmured then that if he had removed his helmet, the proud space traveler would have instantly secured a personal audience with the one whose creation he so carefully surveyed in hopes of finding. This amusing story illustrates the doleful plight of the itinerant Atheist,...