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I just returned from a dinner with Richard Dawkins where he discussed his next book and his current Reason Tour through the U.S. and then Australia.

His greatest audience turnout is in the Bible Belt. The stories from there seem so freakishly foreign in California.

In March 2012, Tennessee passed new laws to promote creationism in schools and put Biblical passages in public buildings, and is now positing a bill to give schoolyard bullies an exemption from rebuke if their bullying happens to be motivated by “sincerely held” religious bigotry. (details)

That is just so unlike Lady Gaga.

28 responses to “Dawkins Dinner”

  1. PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE Avatar
    PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

    Amazing tie from Dawkins a real microcosmos all around his head =)…
    Sad stories from the education point… Any cool plans to fight back ?
    What will his next book be about ?

    Reply
  2. Steffe Avatar
    Steffe

    I have read The Selfish Gene. Must be fun for him in the Bible Belt!

    Reply
  3. linux-works Avatar
    linux-works

    you meet and dine with the most interesting people! I’m so envious 😉

    btw, I wonder if he travels with a bodyguard when he goes down south. I’m not kidding, either; and I wish I was.

    Reply
  4. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    thank you very much for the ‘details’ link!

    Reply
  5. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    This phenomenon in TN is another version of global zombie-land broader phenomenon. And Russian orthodox church is supporting putinism. The most scary things happen when corrupt and evil power has the audacity to announce it-self sacred or when the most ugly religious circles start controlling education. I am for creative approach…like I talked to one post guy who did yoga for 25 years and he said the best teacher he had is the one who is teaching to listen to your own body each day and thus invent your own poses…light comes to the ones who have courage inventing and recreating themselves…not to creationalists thinking in zombie-like fashion.

    Reply
  6. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works] – yes, a beefy one in D.C. Not so much in the Bible Belt.

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffe] – He seems to relish it. He has to self-finance those trips, and part of the reward of the turnout is that so many closet rationalists realize they are not alone.

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/photonquantique] – yes, his wife hand paints his ties. This new one is of exquisite leaf insects. On fighting back: The politicians down there rarely hear a point of view other than the religious lobby. The RDF is one of the few non-profits focused on this vast area of human suffering. Forthcoming book: his autobiography of ideas.

    P.S. I ordered the octopus appetizer, given my recent fancy for their marvels, but he did not want any of that. =)

    Reply
  7. Ramones Karaoke Avatar
    Ramones Karaoke

    Re. the "sincerely held" religious bigotry being a justification for violence – did these people not notice 9/11 happen? WTF?!

    Reply
  8. Ramones Karaoke Avatar
    Ramones Karaoke

    Mind you, having read the link, somebody has a cheek to put creationism and climate change denial in the same bag. Seriously. I’m a monster tree-hugger but the jury’s still out on it being about fossil fuel consumption. Yes, fossil fuel consumption needs to be brought under control because once it’s gone it’s gone, but it being the root cause of global temperate shifts – and in fact there even *being* global temperature shifts – the jury’s out. And it does the cause – ‘the cause’ being the triumph of reason over nonsense and witchcraft – no good whatsoever to lump creationism and ‘denial’ in the same bag.

    Reply
  9. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    Tennessee is so terribly unbelievably backwards! I am so glad to live in Québec. We are progressive in many areas.

    Reply
  10. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    He gave a decent talk in the NW. For someone who was never religious it all sounded a bit obvious. The theme was ‘intelligently designed morality". It seemed all well and good but being in Seattle and having my bum fall asleep on the bleachers of high school gymnasium it seems, that for the moment, the movement is bit under appreciated.

    Reply
  11. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimosa0] I hear the conservatives are trying to take over up there as well?

    Reply
  12. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/philatkin] What jury are you talking about? The jury I know of has been spitting out research like a machine gun since the late 1970’s pinpointing anthropogenic sources of CO2 as the primary cause of our, current, rapid global temperature increase. Here are about 10,000 articles with some reference to ‘climate change’ published in one high impact journal to get you started

    Reply
  13. Mentifex Avatar
    Mentifex

    I gotta thank Richard Dawkins for coming up with the idea of Memetics because I am now happily writing an e-book on :The Art of the Meme.

    Reply
  14. sbove Avatar
    sbove

    The Arch-Atheist-Fundamentalist himself! And a madman for touring the bible belt.

    Reply
  15. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    I just had dinner in Florida. The restaurant chain has one big carved wood sign in the entry. It reads: "All customers are welcome, without regard to race or color"

    Inside there are Jesus Loves Me stuffed animals and more subtle things, like greeting cards that proclaim "Everything Happens for a Reason."

    The sign seemed a bit odd, even defensive. So I googled it, and sure enough, it’s there by a recent federal court order that arose from a DOJ investigation of discriminatory practices.

    Reply
  16. linux-works Avatar
    linux-works

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson]"I just had dinner in Florida"

    that’s some huge appetite! 😉

    and that sign sounds like its saying ‘god says we’re all equal, even if we can’t see it ourselves’.

    also, why is it that florida is the most ‘friendly’ to telemarketing scam businesses? it seems to be and there were many spammers registered in fla, back when I was into the whole anti-spam sysadmin thing, a decade or so ago. dollars to donuts, the open relay was being abused by some florida location. everyone in the anti-spam business knew about florida’s bad rep. so strange that there are havens like that.

    and, on some ‘news’ boards, any news that comes from florida has its own icon and tag. enough strangeness comes from there that they get their own tag (talking about fark.com, here).

    Reply
  17. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    Do not miss Florida much… And especially, TN…

    Reply
  18. JGIV Avatar
    JGIV

    Dawkins should tour Brazil where I am right now pre the big Páscoa weekend holiday. I should know this as fact but I think the gov has some highly secular to atheist positivist policies about relgious symbols, slogans, and sacraments. This of course despite being one of the most overtly religious and syncretic major nations on earth with national and state holidays for saints of all types, festivals featuring all manner of mojo idolotry, and much much more. Dawkins needs to do a dramatic photo op for the RDF right at the feet of the Corcovado big boy himself. It would be great if he struck one of those dramatic enemies of reason blockbuster book cover poses with Cristo Redentor towering over him. His Brazil fans would love it.

    Reply
  19. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    Regarding the restaurant sign, in my opinion, when someone has to specify that there is no racism, I am most dubious. Should we not all expect that there is no racism? That is how I expect my world to be. I am neither comfortable with such needs to reassure about a person’s or establishment’s open-mindedness or the imposition of religious items around me as if I must be in need of such religious reminders.

    Reply
  20. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    guess what 🙂

    http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/05/01/46117.htm

    Reply
  21. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Ah yes, cognitive racism is alive and well. Where else can you discriminate against peoples willy nilly, and in much of the world have not only the law, but popular opinion to back you up?

    I love that "The owner [of the Wyndgate] called me into his office this morning and said that he would not host your event because he saw Richard Dawkins on Bill O’Reilly last night and he put two and two together." The big a-ha…. wait a minute…. Oh my. He’s not a believer! I guess they don’t use Google much.

    Send him to the back of the bus

    Brits board the Atheist Bus

    Reply
  22. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    it cracked me up too :-))
    he’d never heard of richard dawkins!

    Reply
  23. linux-works Avatar
    linux-works

    oh man, the guy from family feud is not a believer? alright, cancel his talk.

    Reply
  24. Truth in science Avatar
    Truth in science

    Days are numbered for the Dawkinsian religion: http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

    Reply
  25. Truth in science Avatar
    Truth in science

    Dawkins on the rocks: youtu.be/vnzHU9VsliQ

    Reply
  26. Roy Cohutta-Brown Avatar
    Roy Cohutta-Brown

    Awesome. Cool photo with Richard Dawkins.

    Reply
  27. Truth in science Avatar
    Truth in science

    The haunting spectre of Humanist situational ethics

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/14797003191

    The haunting spectre of humanist, situational ethics.

    Science, not religion, is the real enemy of atheism

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/14392060730

    Science is the real enemy of atheism, not religion.

    Sincere apologies from Britain to the whole world – for the damage done to science by Charles Darwin.

    On behalf of Britain, I ask the whole world to accept the sincere apologies of the British people, for the damage done to science by Charles Darwin.
    Britain has a great scientific heritage, having produced some of the world’s finest, and greatest scientists. However, Britain’s enormous contribution to science has been seriously sullied by the false ideas popularised by Charles Darwin, which have led to a serious decline in scientific integrity, and spawned a whole catalogue of fakes, frauds and very dubious science.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/14591997778
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/14591997778/

    Fakes, frauds and wishful thinking – the appliance of evolutionist ‘science’.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/13408147445
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/13408147445/

    Choose your god?

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/14770451042

    Choose your god?

    Reply
  28. Truth in science Avatar
    Truth in science

    Atheism revealed as false – why God MUST exist
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/15818838060Atheism revealed as false - Why god must exist.

    Reply

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