Richard Dawkins statistics

Richard Dawkins declared "Christianity may actually be our best defence against aberrant forms of religion that threaten the world". See also: Richard Dawkins and Islam

Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL, born March 26, 1941 (age 82), is a British author, biologist, evolutionist, agnostic and leftist/liberal. See also: Richard Dawkins and agnosticism

Below are some Richard Dawkins statistics.

Richard Dawkins personal life statistics

In 1984, Dawkins divorced his wife of 17 years, Marian Stamp; later that same year, he married Eve Barham. Dawkins also divorced Barham, though the precise circumstances of this divorce are unclear. He married science fiction actress Lalla Ward in 1992; at present, the two are still married.

Vox Day wrote in the his book The Irrational Atheist about Dawkins's claim that teaching children about Hell is more harmful to children than "mild child abuse":

“

Richard Dawkins is perhaps one of the last men on Earth who should be discussing what is the right and proper way to raise children, given that the number of his wives outnumber his offspring. In his letter to his daughter Juliet, addressed to her at the age of ten and published in A Devil’s Chaplain, there is little mention of love, no admission of regret, and no paternal promises. As one British journalist noted, the letter is “coldly impersonal” and “authoritarian.” There is no expression of interest in what might be important to her.

”

For additional information, please see: Richard Dawkins on child molestation and so called "gentle pedophiles"

The God Delusion statistics

In 2010, it was reported that Dawkins' book The God Delusion sold 2,086,402 copies and 907,161 of those copies were sold in North America.

Contrastly, in 2010, the evangelical Christian Rick Warren sold between 25,000,000 and 50,000,000 copies of his book The Purpose Driven Life.

According to the website Guinness World Records, a survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies [of the Bible] were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion." The Economist reported in 2007, "...over 100m copies of the Bible are sold or given away every year. Annual Bible sales in America are worth between $425m and $650m; Gideon's International gives away a Bible every second. The Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world's population."

Initial loss of web traffic to RichardDawkins.net post Elevatorgate controversy

According to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast, the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website fell in 2012. By October 2014, the web traffic for his website fell to a lower level according to Quantcast.

In October 2012, Rebecca Watson published a story about Elevatorgate and its aftermath in Slate entitled, It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too: I spoke out about sexual harassment among atheists and scientists. Then came the rape threats.

The web traffic was measured via Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.

Web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website has seen a dramatic drop

The above graph shows the monthly website traffic to Richard Dawkins' website as of June 22, 2015 in terms of unique monthly web visitors. As you can see above, in 2012, Richard Dawkins saw a very large decrease in web traffic. The website traffic is measured via Quantcast which directly measures Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.

Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins

• Richard Dawkins - Global searches

• Richard Dawkins - Google USA searches

• Richard Dawkins - Google UK searches

Richard Dawkins Reason Circle statistics

On August 16, 2014, Andrew Brown wrote an article for The Spectator entitled The bizarre – and costly – cult of Richard Dawkins which declared:

“

...the Richard Dawkins website offers followers the chance to join the ‘Reason Circle’, which, like Dante’s Hell, is arranged in concentric circles. For $85 a month, you get discounts on his merchandise, and the chance to meet ‘Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science personalities’. Obviously that’s not enough to meet the man himself. For that you pay $210 a month — or $5,000 a year — for the chance to attend an event where he will speak... But the $85 a month just touches the hem of rationality. After the neophyte passes through the successively more expensive ‘Darwin Circle’ and then the ‘Evolution Circle’, he attains the innermost circle, where for $100,000 a year or more he gets to have a private breakfast or lunch with Richard Dawkins, and a reserved table at an invitation-only circle event with ‘Richard’ as well as ‘all the benefits listed above’, so he still gets a discount on his Richard Dawkins T-shirt saying ‘Religion — together we can find a cure.’ The website suggests that donations of up to $500,000 a year will be accepted for the privilege of eating with him once a year: at this level of contribution you become a member of something called ‘The Magic of Reality Circle’. I don’t think any irony is intended. At this point it is obvious to everyone except the participants that what we have here is a religion without the good bits.

”

Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science embezzlement allegation statistics

Richard Dawkins

See also: Atheist organizations and scandals

The Independent wrote about the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science:

“

The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, has filed four lawsuits in a Californian court alleging that Mr Timonen, who ran its online operation in America, stole $375,000 (£239,000) over three years. It is claiming $950,000 in damages, while Mr Dawkins is suing him for $14,000 owed to him personally. Mr Timonen strongly denies the allegations. In the 18-page complaint filed in a Los Angeles court, the foundation claims that Mr Timonen said the website he was running was just "squeaking by," making only $30,000 in three years, when in fact it was grossing 10 times that sum. The charity alleges that Mr Timonen pocketed 92 per cent of the money generated by the store, with his girlfriend spending $100,000 of the charity's money on upgrading her home before putting it on the market. The funds apparently came on top of Mr Timomen's pay – of $278,750 over three-and-a-half years (£50,000 a year) – which legal documents filed by the foundation describe as "exceedingly generous and well above-market for someone of Timomen's age and experience...

”

Atheist Hemant Mehta reported in 2011 that Dawkins ended his legal actions against Mr. Timonen.

David Gorski at Scienceblogs wrote about this matter:

“

Timonen has responded. Although I find his denial self-serving, I do find it odd that there have been no arrests. After all, embezzlement is a criminal offense. If I ran a charitable organization and discovered that an employee had embezzled close to $1 million, I’d have called the police, not the lawyers. Something more than meets the eye appears to be going on here.

”

Richard Dawkins net worth statistic

According to TheRichest.com:

“

Richard Dawkins is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author who has an estimated net worth of $135 million ($100 euro) according to the Sunday Times in 2012. He has earned his net worth due to book sales, science career and his television and film appearances.

”

Richard Dawkins' debate statistics

See also: Richard Dawkins and debate

Debate lost according to student audience

Shmuley Boteach

See also: Richard Dawkins and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was named the London Times Preacher of the Year 2000 and is the author of 20 books.

Recently Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote concerning the agnostic Richard Dawkins:

“

...Dawkins attacked me on his website and denied that he and I had ever debated. My office quickly posted the full footage of a two hour debate which took place on October 23, 1996, a debate which Dawkins actually lost after a vote taken by the students as to which side, science or religion, caused more students to change their minds. In my article on the subject responding to his attack I was extremely respectful of Dr. Dawkins and was therefore shocked to receive a letter in return in which he accused me of speaking like Hitler. Had the noted scientist lost his mind? Hitler? Was this for real?

”

WorldNetDaily offers the following quotes of Rabbi Boteach about debate and the initial denial by Dawkins that the debate never took place:

“

That is a particularly bold untruth. Our debate, which took place at St. Catherine's College, Oxford on Oct. 23, 1996, attracted hundreds of students and featured, on the atheist side, Prof. Dawkins and chemistry Prof. Peter Atkins, and on the religion side, me and Prof. Keith Ward, Oxford's Regius Professor of Divinity. Student president Josh Wine was in the chair," the rabbi explained. "In a vote at the end of the debate as to how many students had changed their minds after hearing the arguments, Dawkin's side was defeated and religion prevailed, which might account for his selective memory," he wrote.

”

Rabbi Boteach reported at Beliefnet:

“

I also gave Dr. Dawkins the opportunity to even score by accepting a further debate, at the time and place of his choosing (within reason, of course), to which he has yet to respond.

”

A video of the debate that Dawkins lost to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is available at Rabbi Schely Boteach's website.

Incidentally, Paul Humber notes there was a deception that occurred during email correspondence with Mr. Dawkins concerning the tally of vote counts that occurred for the Oxford debate between creation scientists Professor A.E. Wilder-Smith and Professor Edgar Andrews and evolutionist Richard Dawkins and John Maynard Smith. Mr. Humber did not indicate whether Mr. Dawkins committed the deception or was merely duped by someone who provided an altered account.

Prominent theists Dawkins has refused to debate statistics

Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins has developed a reputation for ducking debates with strong debate opponents.

On May 14, 2011, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph published a news story entitled Richard Dawkins accused of cowardice for refusing to debate existence of God.

In The Daily Telegraph article Dr. Daniel Came, a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University and atheist, was quoted as writing to Richard Dawkins concerning his refusal to debate Dr. William Lane Craig, "The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part."

In October 2011, Dr. Craig went to England and the Daily Telegraph declared that Dawkins is either a fool or a coward for his refusal to debate William Lane Craig plus declared that Dawkins is a "proud man" and a "coward" who puts on an "illiterate, angry schtick" for the public. In addition, Christian apologist Ken Ammi called Dawkins a "cowardly clown" for his refusal to debate Creation Ministries International at the 2010 Global Atheist Convention.

Below are some resources relating to Dawkins refusal to debate various debate opponents:

• Richard Dawkins' public refusal to debate creationists

• Richard Dawkins and William Lane Craig

• Richard Dawkins and Dinesh D'Souza

• Richard Dawkins and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Denied debating him after losing video taped debate, refuses to debate another time)

In addition, respected biochemist and intelligent design researcher Dr Michael Behe has openly challenged prominent evolutionists and proponents of Darwinism to debate him regarding the many failings of evolutionism, yet Richard Dawkins - one of the most outspoken Darwinists today - has declined all such invitations. Dawkins has also refused to debate prominent creationist and evangelist Ray Comfort.

Richard Dawkins Twitter statistics

Dawkins accumulated over 30,000 Twitter tweets. The Independent reported, "Dawkins also admitted he wasn't very good at managing Twitter and the strong reactions his posts tend to provoke. 'Twitter is very difficult medium to handle,' he said. 'I’m not much of a diplomat.'" However, after his stroke, in May 2016, Dawkins gave up posting on Twitter and the tweets that appear in his name are done by his staff.

Previously, despite the medical advice of his doctors to avoid controversies prior to his minor stroke, Dawkins had a very active Twitter presence before his minor stroke (with a number of Twitter controversies) and numerous public controversies (see: Richard Dawkins and women and Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations).

Major online battles with feminists statistics

Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins had two major online battles with feminists.

Please see:

• Elevatorgate

• Dawkins' disinvitation to speak at a skeptics conference due to a feminism/Islam controversy

11 prominent news articles on Elevatorgate

Below is a list of news stories about the Elevatorgate scandal which involved Richard Dawkins and Rebecca Watson.

• Richard Dawkins and male privilege By Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, July 5, 2011 10:30 am

• Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins by David Allen Green - New Stateman - 06 July 2011

• Richard Dawkins Gets into a Comments War with Feminists by Caitlin Dickson, The Wire, July 6, 2011

• Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists by Remy Stern, Gawker, July 7, 2011

• Richard Dawkins: Skeptic of women? - Salon, July 8, 2011

• Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women by Emily Band, The Guardian, July 24, 2011

• Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today, September 15, 2011

Rebecca Watson's article appearing in a news outlet

• It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too by Rebecca Watson, Slate, October 2012

Subsequent articles mentioning Elevatorgate incident

• Richard Dawkins: Atheism’s asset or liability? by Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service, August 7, 2014

• Is Richard Dawkins destroying his reputation? by Sophie Elmhirst, The Guardian, June 9, 2015

Post Elevatorgate Richard Dawkins says he feels muzzled by feminists

On November 18, 2014, Richard Dawkins indicated that: he stands by his recent remarks about women/men relations, he feels muzzled by "thought police" and that Rebecca Watson's experience in the elevator was "rather trivial" compared to events some Muslim women experience.

Specifically, the Washington Post reported on November 18, 2014:

“

“I don’t take back anything that I’ve said,” Dawkins said from a shady spot in the leafy backyard of one of his Bay Area supporters. “I would not say it again, however, because I am now accustomed to being misunderstood and so I will . “ He trailed off momentarily, gazing at his hands resting on a patio table. “I feel muzzled, and a lot of other people do as well,” he continued. “There is a climate of bullying, a climate of intransigent thought police which is highly influential in the sense that it suppresses people like me.” Recent criticism of Dawkins has come from women, many of them within the atheist movement, which has long drawn more men to its ranks. His online remarks, some women say, contribute to a climate they see as unwelcoming to female atheists. Writing for Salon last month, atheist activist Amanda Marcotte said: “People like Dawkins . are the public face of atheism. And that public face is one that is defensively and irrationally sexist..." Some atheist men, too, are unhappy with Dawkins’ most recent remarks. “There’s no denying that Dawkins played a formative role in the atheist movement, but it’s grown beyond just him,” Adam Lee, a New York-based atheist, wrote in September in The Guardian. “Remarks like these make him a liability at best, a punchline at worst. He may have convinced himself that he’s the Most Rational Man Alive, but if his goal is to persuade everyone else that atheism is a welcoming and attractive option, Richard Dawkins is doing a terrible job.” Dawkins, however, disagrees. He is, he said, not a misogynist, as some critics have called him, but “a passionate feminist.” The greatest threats to women, in his view, are Islamism and jihadism — and his concern over that sometimes leads him to speak off-the-cuff. “I concentrate my attention on that menace and I confess I occasionally get a little impatient with American women who complain of being inappropriately touched by the water cooler or invited for coffee or something which I think is, by comparison, relatively trivial,” he said.

”

Number of Nobel Prizes won by Richard Dawkins. Number of Nobel prizes won by Muslims

See also: Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations

The Guardian reported: "The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins was involved in an online Twitter row on Thursday after tweeting: 'All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.'"

Wikipedia, a website founded by an atheist and agnostic reported as of June 19, 2016:

“

And as of 2015, twelve Nobel Prize winners have been Muslims. More than half of the twelve Muslim Nobel laureates were awarded the prize in the 21st century. Seven of the twelve winners have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, including a controversial award to Yasser Arafat. The recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics, Abdus Salam, was a member of the Ahmadiyya community of Pakistan. Aziz Sancar is the second Turkish Nobel laureate and the first Muslim to be awarded Nobel prize in the field of molecular biology in 2015.

”

Richard Dawkins has yet to win a Nobel Prize.

See also

• Atheism statistics

• Agnosticism statistics

• Christianity statistics

• Errors of Richard Dawkins