Friday, July 15, 2011

If Richard Dawkins became Christian, would that mark the end of Atheism?

I don't think Richard Dawkins is remotely to atheists as the Jesus figure is to Christians nor do I think he wants to be. He is just one atheist who got tired of religious claims going unchallenged and decided to present another side of the issue. Mainly in his case due to being an evolutionary biologist and getting tired of hearing the creationists going on about it without any real rebuttal as to their religious claims. I was an atheist already before he published his book. There have always been atheists and while his book has been wonderful for people who thought that religion didn't really make sense but were swept up in it as they never got a chance to really hear or consider a different view it is not the main reason I think there are more atheists today. Its that religious claims in general are more susceptible to scrutiny and people have more access to information and other view points. If Richard Dawkins were to convert to theism or Christianity the majority of atheists would only be interested in why and the evidence he had to support that position. If it were something like being old or ill or some subjective feeling its unlikely it would be a very valid reason for switching to the majority of atheists and have little to no impact. Nor should it without good evidential basis for the switch.

No comments:

Post a Comment