Cantankerous Dawkins

Yesterday, Richard Dawkins drew much criticism for the following tweet:

Mehdi Hasan admits to believing Muhamed flew to heaven on a winged horse. And New Statesman sees fit to print him as a serious journalist

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) April 21, 2013

Andrew Brown of the Guardian tells of the fall-out.

Seems to me one response would be to point to this Dawkins tweet from last month:

"Something from nothing" sounds absurd? You can't do physics by common sense. If you could, we wouldn't need physicists.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 21, 2013

What's good for the goose is good for the gander I'd have thought.  The supernatural (for want of a better short-hand) might seem absurd to the naturalist, but, well, it would.  But you can't do theology by common sense either - and certainly not naturalistic common sense!

Anyway, perhaps the best response is just to list some of Dawkins' other clangers from the last few weeks and let them speak for themselves...

[now deleted] What kind of person throws chewing gum in the streets, where it sticks to shoes? What kind of person chews gum in the first place?

Greetings to all atheists. But please, not so many athiests, aethists or aetheists. Greek theos: god. Hence theist. Hence a-theist.

I re-tweet for a reason. I know not everybody likes it. They are free to unfollow.

Comparisons often made of Jesus with Horus, Dionysus, Krishna etc. Any real scholars out there confirm each one? pic.twitter.com/IuN1u7McNq

then, when called on such tired and lazy comparisons...

Was it seriously not obvious that I posted that set of other gods because I was SCEPTICAL of the alleged similarities to Jesus?

If you're used to the obscurantist smokescreens of religion, the sudden shock of the unambiguously clear voice of reason can SEEM aggressive

Dear Americans, please understand that "grade" as in "7th grade" is not part of the English language. Please state the child's AGE in years

People outside America truly don't know what "7th grade" means. In Britain we've "Year 10" but don't expect others to know what that means.

If you only care about communicating to Americans, "7th grade" is fine. But there's this obscure little place called The Rest Of The World

I'm NOT arguing for British English. "Year 10" not part of the language either, which is why I wouldn't use it in an international medium.

"Hit a home run" great metaphor, understood internationally. But "7th grade" conveys precision. Don't you WANT to be understood outside US?

Struggling with London tube notice: delays because "customer" taken ill on train earlier in day. Sorry for sick passenger, but why DELAYS?