Saturday, December 22, 2012

Easy targets

One of the more downheartening aspects of watching (so called) radical atheists these days is that so many of them are looking at the wrong target. Or rather they are going after easy targets possibly because they know what will happen if they go after the harder one...
Mail.
Raising your children as Roman Catholics is worse than child abuse, according to militant atheist Richard Dawkins.
In typically incendiary style, Professor Dawkins said the mental torment inflicted by the religion’s teachings is worse in the long-term than any sexual abuse carried out by priests.
He said he had been told by a woman that while being abused by a priest was a ‘yucky’ experience, being told as a child that a Protestant friend who died would ‘roast in Hell’ was more distressing.
Last night politicians and charities condemned the former Oxford professor’s views as attention-seeking and unhelpful.
The remarks are due to be broadcast tonight by Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera.
Interviewer Mehdi Hasan asked Professor Dawkins about previous comments he made, when he said: ‘Horrible as sexual abuse no doubt was, the damage was arguably less than the long-term psychological damage inflicted by bringing the child up Catholic in the first place.’
You would think that Dawkins talking to islamic mouthpieces might just have noticed the islamic tendency to bring their children up believing that women are second class citizens, that Jews and Christians are descended from apes and pigs, that it's ok to beat your wife, that paedophilia is fine after all look what the 'prophet' did, that blowing up innocents  and other acts of terrorism are fine because the people aren't muslims. Or indeed the ever growing hatred between shia and sunni sects in the religion of (not) peace at all.
No, Dawkins does as many militant atheists do, go after the easy targets, the ones who don't threaten to kill you if you look the wrong way at them.
It would be interesting to see him have a go at islam, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that, I rather suspect he never will...

4 annotations:

Restoring Britain said...

Added to which a left leaning press will give him the oxygen of publicity he craves. Had he gone after Islam virtually no press would have touched the story.

Added to which, like all bullies, he's not after a challenge, he's after a victim.

Anonymous said...

Stonyground says:

Dawkins has criticised Islam, you just aren't paying attention. He actually refers to Catholicism as the second vilest religion in the world.

Quiet_Man said...

It seems you're right Dawkins does criticise islam, he just chooses not to do it when on islamic tv.

Unknown said...

Maybe that part was edited out. He has been very vocal against Islam for quite some time.