When I wrote my recent post about Peter Higgs calling Dawkins a “fundamentalist”, I didn’t think I’d write on the subject again. However, a commentator objecting to my views on that post made me think I should make the point clearer.
Apart from saying in his book “the God Delusion” that he couldn’t be totally sure whether God exists or not, and apart from telling us since writing the book that he can be called agnostic, Dawkins is the one who ran the ad above. Now, how many mosques or Christian churches are there that preach God “probably” exists (regardless of whether or not they call themsevles “fundamentalist”)? None?
The reason Dawkins gets called a “fudamentalist” is not because his attitude is particularly intolerant. It is because, religion is simply not used to being criticized. Culturally, religion has been given a kind of deference that it doesn’t deserve and never earned. Hence, when someone opens his/her mouth criticizing religion, name calling begins.
Good thing Dawkins has a thick skin, as we secularists all should.
