I mostly agree with Tyson ...
[Here's a different take on the whole culture-war phenomenon, what we scientists need to fight aggressively for is tolerance ... tolerance for ATHEISTS. On this front Dawkins is losing ground.]
[HT: Ed Brayton]
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Haha, I love Dawkins' anecdote towards the end.
i call takfir on you!
I'm not sure I can agree with that. Dawkins is being very "out" with his atheism. Maybe that offends some people, but another couple centuries of hiding in the closet is not going to get the job done. Draw comparisons from the gay movement. At some point it is necessary to say, "Here we are. Deal with us."
Another point is this: losing ground from what? Thanks to millennia of defamation, which continues to this day, the status of atheists among large segments of the general populace is so low that it would be difficult for anyone to make it lower. On Dawkins' web site you can find the video of his book reading and Q&A session in Lynchburg, VA. If you haven't seen it yet, a sizable group of faculty and students from Liberty U. came across town to make themselves heard. Most of them repeated the same question, thus showing that they have been thoroughly brainwashed with the defamation: How can atheists possibly be moral?
David Baltimore has review of The God Delusion at American Scientist.