History Creator / RichardDawkins

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Often a target of (not unfounded) accusations of racism and misogyny, but his contributions to both science and organized atheism can't be denied.

* DeadpanSnarker: The narration of ''The God Dellusion'' is full of dry humour, often of the fridge logic variety.
-->GeorgeWBush claimed Jesus told him to invade Iraq. A shame then, that Jesus did not vouchsafe him a revelation that there were no weapons of mass destruction.\\\\
The Pope attributed his survival to [[DivineIntervention intervention by Our Lady of Fatima]], "a maternal hand guided the bullet." One cannot help wondering why she didn't guide it to miss him altogether.

The Pope attributed his survival to intervention of Lady of Fatima, "a maternal hand guided the bullet." One cannot help wondering why she didn't guide it to miss him altogether

->"''There's real poetry, in the [[RealLife real world]]. Science is the Poetry of Reality.''"

* DeadpanSnarker: Oh dear lord yes, especially in ''The God Delusion'':
-->''"GeorgeWBush claimed Jesus told him to invade Iraq. A shame then, that Jesus did not vouchsafe him a revelation that there were no weapons of mass destruction."''

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.

''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' made fun of him in the 2-Part Episode ''Go God Go'', where in is portrayed as an intolerant, self-centered, one of the characters most mocked in the serie.

''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' made fun of him in the 2-Part Episode ''Go God Go'', where in is portrayed as an intolerant, self-centered, one of the characters was the most mocked in the series.

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.

''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' made fun of him in the 2-Part Episode ''Go God Go'', and [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne the only aspect of it he complained about was that they didn't give him a proper English accent]].

-> ''Haven't read Koran so couldn't quote ch&verse. But often say Islam greatest force for evil today.''
-->-- Twitter Post

->"''There's real poetry, in the [[RealLife real world]]. Science is the Poetry of Reality.''"
-->-- ''The Enemies of Reason''

* Don't Shoot The Message: Not all atheists like him. Michael Ruse even complained about him in a leaked email to Daniel Dennet: "What sensed is not kneejerk atheism but serious grappling with the issue. Neither of you are willing to study Christianity. seriously. and to engage with ideas-it is just plain silly and grotesquely immoral to claim that Christianity is a force of evil like Richard says- more than this, we need to make allies, not alienate. everyone of good will."This email actually exists.
* Also, a fellow Oxford alumni, also an avowed atheist, called the God Delusion a piece of "pseudo-intellectual drivel".

* ''The God Delusion'' (2006) - Easily his most controversial book, not least of all because of its [[ExactlyWhatItSaysONTheTin ''anti''-theistic position]] and often informal tone. Dawkins deconstructs the concept of a supernatural creator expressed in his God hypothesis (his main target is monotheism) using rational arguments, while deconstructing rival arguments, before answering questions such as how religion might have originated, how it came to be so influential, whether we really derive our morality from it or not (also offering AlternateCharacterInterpretation to depict Yahweh as evil), and how it can lead to damaging behaviors. He also explicitly sets out to endorse the [[UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}} atheistic]] point of view, tackles the social roles of religion (and suggests alternatives), raises awareness of religious extremism (though mainstream religion is also heavily criticized), and encourages closeted atheists to come out, likening their plight to that of homosexuals in the late 20th century. [[invoked]]
* However, it triggered an equally rational antithesis called the Dawkins Delusion, which uses logic to poke holes in Dawkins' antireligious arguments.

* ''The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution'' (2009) - Dawkins outlines the evidence for evolutionary theory, such as domestic breeding and agriculture, the arms race relationships between organisms, anatomical and molecular comparison, the fossil record (including that of humans), biogeographical distribution and longitudinal studies.

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991. YMMV/RichardDawkins

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.

* Don't Shoot The Message: Not atheists like him. Michael Ruse even complained about him in a leaked email to Daniel Dennet: "What sensed is not kneejerk atheism but serious grappling with the issue. Neither of you are willing to study Christianity. seriously. and to engage with ideas-it is just plain silly and grotesquely immoral to claim that Christianity is a force of evil like Richard says- more than this, we need to make allies, not alienate. everyone of good will."This email actually exists.

He played himself in a news clip in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E12TheStolenEarth The Stolen Earth]]". He's also married to Lalla Ward, who played the second Romana in that show. The two met via DouglasAdams (who was writing the show at the same time Lalla Ward was starring in it), who Dawkins referred to as "possibly my tallest convert".

He's briefly mentioned in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' (as one of the writers which one of the Tachikoma has been reading up on, ''The Selfish Gene'' is specifically mentioned).

* ''The Extended Phenotype'' (1982) - Dawkins discusses the idea that animal behavior and its impact on the environment is as much part an creatures phenotype as its physical body. Dawkins considers this his most significant and best scientific work.

* HardOnSoftScience: He doesn't think much of fields where repeatable tests are not possible, theology is one of his favorite targets.

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: Discussed in the ironically named ''Unweaving the Rainbow'', which addresses the idea that science and art are at odds. Dawkins was accused of this in response to some of his books, so he put this out there to explain that sees [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome the world as full of wonders and a source of pleasure]] ''because'' he's a scientist.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Dawkins never planned to go into scientific writing, he first started writing ''The Selfish Gene'' because the 1973 Coal Miners Strike caused a three months of sporadic blackouts (The Three Day Week) that prevented him from working in the lab.

He played himself in a news clip in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E12TheStolenEarth The Stolen Earth]]". He's also married to Lalla Ward, who played the second Romana in that show. The two met via DouglasAdams (who was writing the show at the same time Lalla Ward was starring in it), who Dawkins referred to as "possibly my only convert".

* HitlerAteSugar: In a speech he made against Pope Benedict during his visit to England Dawkins tried to demonize the Catholic Church by saying they were working with Hitler. He ignored the fact that a lot of Catholics actually worked against Hitler, some even dying for this, and that despite Hitler claiming to be Christian in public he actually oppressed Catholics and there is a lot of evidence he wasn't that Catholic in his private life.

* HitlerAteSugar: * In a speech he made against Pope Benedict during his visit to England Dawkins tried to demonize the Catholic Church by saying they were working with Hitler. He ignored the fact that a lot of Catholics actually worked against Hitler, some even dying for this, and that despite Hitler claiming to be Christian in public he actually oppressed Catholics and there is a lot of evidence he wasn't that Catholic in his private life.

* BrokenBase: Has been happening recently, largely due to quotes from Dawkins many have interpreted as Islamophobia. A lot of criticism for Dawkins is coming from atheists.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A lot of atheists feel that Richard Dawkins has become quite intolerant himself, with tweets like "Islam is greatest force for evil in world today."

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991. YMMV/RichardDawkins

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.