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Skirmishes in the battle of Whence.

THE RECENT ‘debate’ between Richard Dawkins and Rowan Williams (with Sir Anthony Kenny serving as upholstery) was perhaps more a media event than a meaningful one. But it did give both men a chance to try to sell their respective positions. And selling matters. Dawkins has a shop; you can buy the trinkets of his atheism online. Yet there is no shop at archbishopofcanterbury.org. Surely another opportunity missed.

By TAEDE A. SMEDES [tasmedes.nl] – Have you ever looked at the website of the [sic] Richard Dawkins, and then I mean especially the store section? I recently noticed that “they” (I don’t presume Dawkins is selling stuff in person) sell jewelry.

In itself there’s of course nothing wrong with that. But notice that The Richard Dawkins store sells jewelry in the form of DNA-strands, and Darwin’s sketch of the tree of life. These apparently are adopted as the symbols of the atheism that Dawkins is preaching. It’s interesting to see how science and symbolism here go hand in hand.

But what is also interesting is particular dynamics that is at work here….Science, symbolism, and ideology are getting lumped together in the discourse of the new atheism. In my view a highly problematic combination and potentially dangerous because of its ideological undertones. Wacky stuff.

Continued at TASMEDES.nl | A video podcast from the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford, of a discussion between Archbishop Rowan Williams, Richard Dawkins, and Sir Anthony Kenny held at the Sheldonian 23 February 2012 | More Chronicle & Notices.

 

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