On The RDF site, Dawkins responded to criticism like this:
Traitor!
Is this a little clearer now? He's not responsible for the business model behind the NCH, and he's past retirement age, so only an independent college, free to make up its own rules about teaching staff, can offer him such a position. But heck, he's put himself in the public eye more than AC Grayling, so he's the obvious target for criticism.
I wouldn't say his support is haemorrhaging. He's not my leader and I'm not his follower, and a lot of atheists feel that way about him. He's influential, and he's influenced me, but he, along with most other prominent atheists, encourages critical thinking, not blind following. Certainly, as Nabla said, he sparks thought and discussion, which is something to be thankful for. I said that atheism isn't important to me, no more important than the fact I don't collect stamps, because atheism is a position taken with regard to claims made about the existence of god, but that isn't the only arena in which I take a sceptical interest. I'm equally critical of climate change deniers or 2012ers, for example, and for the same reasons.
Traitor!
Is this a little clearer now? He's not responsible for the business model behind the NCH, and he's past retirement age, so only an independent college, free to make up its own rules about teaching staff, can offer him such a position. But heck, he's put himself in the public eye more than AC Grayling, so he's the obvious target for criticism.
I wouldn't say his support is haemorrhaging. He's not my leader and I'm not his follower, and a lot of atheists feel that way about him. He's influential, and he's influenced me, but he, along with most other prominent atheists, encourages critical thinking, not blind following. Certainly, as Nabla said, he sparks thought and discussion, which is something to be thankful for. I said that atheism isn't important to me, no more important than the fact I don't collect stamps, because atheism is a position taken with regard to claims made about the existence of god, but that isn't the only arena in which I take a sceptical interest. I'm equally critical of climate change deniers or 2012ers, for example, and for the same reasons.