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Line 31: − − === Richard Dawkins' Foundation and charges of exploitation and cultish behavior === − [[Image:2402173645 c8e6168fe7.jpg|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|200px|left|Richard Dawkins ]] − ''See also:'' [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]] − − On August 16, 2014, Andrew Brown wrote an article for The Spectator entitled ''The bizarre – and costly – [[Cult of personality|cult]] of Richard Dawkins'' which declared: − {{cquote|...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 ‘[[Charles Darwin|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 [[Atheist cults|is a religion]] without the good bits.<ref>[http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9286682/the-bizarre-and-costly-cult-of-richard-dawkins/ The bizarre – and costly – cult of Richard Dawkins], The Spectator, Andrew Brown 16 August 2014</ref>}} − − According to ''The Richest'', "Richard Dawkins..has an estimated net worth of $135 million ($100 euro) according to the ''Sunday Times'' in 2012."<ref>[http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/authors/richard-dawkins-net-worth/ Richard Dawkins Net Worth]</ref> − − [[Vox Day]] noted that the Richard Dawkins cult is similar to the cult of [[Scientology]].<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-cult-of-dicky-dawk.html The Cult of Dicky Dawkins]</ref> − Dawkins was one of the founders of the [[New Atheism]] movement. The New Atheism movement, which has waned in recent years, 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> Although the New Atheism movement does not perfectly fit the various characteristics of a cult, it does fit some of the characteristics.<ref>[http://shadowtolight.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/how-cultish-is-new-atheism/ How cultish is the New Atheism?]</ref>
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website (view source)
Revision as of 03:15, May 4, 2017
, 03:15, May 4, 2017→Richard Dawkins' Foundation and charges of exploitation and cultish behavior
See also: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]]
See also: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]]
== Majority of web visitors to Richard Dawkins' website are men ==
== Majority of web visitors to Richard Dawkins' website are men ==