Saturday 9 July 2011

Richard Dawkins on Islam

One of the great Atheists of the world, an equal-opportunity critic of all religions, nevertheless singles out Islam for particular approbrium: rightly, of course, because it is indeed sui generis.  It is unique amongst world religions in having a doctrine, theology and jurisprudence which mandates war against unbelievers.  Or, in the rather more robust language of Dr Dawkins:
Islam deserves criticism on account of the logical consequences of its dogma, namely, that the murder of fellow human beings is to be rewarded with sensual pleasure in a hedonistic ‘Paradise’- a concept born in the fantasies of an Arab rebel some fourteen centuries ago. The religion of Mohammed is a dangerous system when the teachings and example of the ‘prophet’ are believed and followed.
In the video below, he minces no words. All of what he says about Islam, is factually true.  Islamapologists like John Esposito want to see the muzzling of any criticism of Islam on the basis that it's "hate speech" and "bigoted".  But it is not bigoted to criticise a supremacist religious ideology that seeks to dis-empower women and extinguish gays and jews from the world; aims which are clearly and repeatedly stated by authority figures in Islam, reflecting accurately those calls in core Islamic doctrine.  If Esposito and his ilk would spend rather more time on looking at the house of Islam, of getting it in order, of expunging its own violent and supremacist aims, then we'd quickly see the reduction of "Islamophobia".
Back to the prof, the inimitable Richard Dawkins: