Such a jerk

Come on in and enjoy some pumpkin seeds.  So tasty.

So I realize I haven't written much lately, except some mostly depressing and annoying self-involved crap, and I realized, 'Wow, I must be such a fucking downer.'  So I went out and had fun this weekend.  Two fun larps, lotsa fun socializing, getting to hang out with a new friend in a situation that wasn't virtual or solely game related.  Was a great time.  Of course, I also managed to piss a few people off but hey, without controversy what else would I be good at?

Also have realized that, besides the crappy parts, there are some rather good parts.  Like my day today, it went super well.  It made me realize that I'm actually valued in a lot of areas that I didn't think I was.  And I started to think about the jobs I was now applying for, and what the pay in those were like, and wow.  Life is certainly changing because of that piece of paper.

But the one thing I've been thinking about is a little flare up that happened recently between a few friends.  And it's something I've personally been thinking about a lot lately, and it has to do with Richard Dawkins.  I'm not a fan of the guy but I've never actually sat down and explained why I dislike his writing.  So, over the next little while, I think I'm going to pull out the points that bother me about Mr. Dawkins.  There may be a lot of things that folks will dislike about what I have to say but before I get into it, I want to make it perfectly clear that while I disagree with a good deal of the how of what Mr. Dawkins writes, I very rarely disagree with the why.

To lay a little ground work, here goes.  I will, over the next little while, demonstrate how I feel Richard Dawkins writing is divisive, damaging, and overall a detriment to any useful dialogue that could happen to further his goals.  I recognize that one of the major points within what he is attempting to do is to create a rallying point for atheist thought and foster community, however he's doing it in almost an exact replica of fundamentalist dogma.  In fact, his response is just as dogmatic as it is based on false assumptions, and at times rather weak and selective academic work.  In fact, there are quite a few parallels between Dawkins and another writer who takes dogmatic arguments and reverses them to create divisive work, and that is Tom Flanagan.

to counter point this I will make reference to a rather great writer, Douglas Adams, who wrote a number of incredible articles on atheism that I found to be perhaps the best rallying points and community based ideals that might further Dawkins' goals without the open hostility the dogma he is attempting to create.

But here's the kicker, in the end, the one thing that should be remembered is that this is an academic exercise, not a personal attack.  Nor is it an attack on any who enjoy Dawkins' work.  It is meant to create a place for dialogue so others can understand where the differences matter and where they don't.  And to make sure that a wider community does not need to be split apart due to false assumptions or misunderstandings.

P.S.  The Such a jerk is me, not Dawkins.  Thought I should clarify that.