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Richard Dawkins coined the term and the concept of a [[meme]]. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

Richard Dawkins coined the term and the concept of a [[meme]]. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

In a September 8, 2012 article supporters of the Question evolution campaign published an article entitled ''The memes of Richard Dawkins are weak and dying'' which cited data from the major web traffic tracking companies and Google trends suggesting that the memes of Richard Dawkins have significantly diminished over time.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-richard-dawkins-meme-is-undergoing.html The memes of Richard Dawkins are weak and dying]</ref> In 2013,  Martin Robbins wrote in the ''New Statesman'' concerning the public persona of Dawkins: "Increasingly though, his public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance..."<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2013/08/atheism-maturing-and-it-will-leave-richard-dawkins-behind Atheism is maturing, and it will leave Richard Dawkins behind]</ref>

Citing global Christian/atheist population data, Google trends data and data from Quantcast which directly measures the website traffic of Richard Dawkins website, a fan of the [[Question Evolution! Campaign pointed out that the memes of Richard Dawkins and atheism are falling in global market share.  On the other hand, the memes of Jesus and [[young earth creationism]] are seeing rapid growth in their number of adherents in the world and this trend is expected to accelerate in the 21st century.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-richard-dawkins-meme-is-undergoing.html The memes of Richard Dawkins are weak and dying]</ref>  

 

In addition, current data indicates that the Christianity and biblical creationism memes are growing stronger over time in the world while the memes of [[global atheism]] and agnosticism are shrinking in terms of their global market share.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-richard-dawkins-meme-is-undergoing.html The memes of Richard Dawkins are weak and dying]</ref>  

Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post [[Elevatorgate]] and due to his generally [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|abrasive manner]], as noted above, he does retain a small cult following (See: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]] [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]]).  Dawkins was a leading figure in the [[New Atheism]] movement which was called a cult by the [[agnosticism|agnostic]], journalist Bryan Appleyard in a 2012 article in the ''New Statesman'' in which he describes the abusive behavior of New Atheists.<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2012/02/neo-atheism-atheists-dawkins ''The God wars'' by Bryan Appleyard], ''New Statesman''</ref> The Dawkian atheists have been able to to retain Richard Dawkins being labeled as an atheist in his [[Wikipedia]] article despite Dawkins repeatedly and adamantly declaring that he is an [[agnosticism|agnostic]] and/or flip-flopping his public persona between atheism and agnosticism (See: [[Richard Dawkins and agnosticism]]).  

Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post [[Elevatorgate]] and due to his generally [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|abrasive manner]], as noted above, he does retain a small cult following (See: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]] [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]]).  Dawkins was a leading figure in the [[New Atheism]] movement which was called a cult by the [[agnosticism|agnostic]], journalist Bryan Appleyard in a 2012 article in the ''New Statesman'' in which he describes the abusive behavior of New Atheists.<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2012/02/neo-atheism-atheists-dawkins ''The God wars'' by Bryan Appleyard], ''New Statesman''</ref> The Dawkian atheists have been able to to retain Richard Dawkins being labeled as an atheist in his [[Wikipedia]] article despite Dawkins repeatedly and adamantly declaring that he is an [[agnosticism|agnostic]] and/or flip-flopping his public persona between atheism and agnosticism (See: [[Richard Dawkins and agnosticism]]).