Richard Dawkins and anger

Richard Dawkins has encouraged his supporters to go beyond humorous ridicule. He wrote, "I lately started to think that we need to go further: go beyond humorous ridicule, sharpen our barbs to a point where they really hurt." See: Atheism and mockery

Richard Dawkins is one of the principle founders of the New Atheism movement. Dawkins flip-flops between atheism and agnosticism as far as his public persona (see: Richard Dawkins and agnosticism).

New Atheism is a form of militant atheism/antitheism.

Social science research indicates that antitheists score the highest among atheists when it comes to personality traits such as narcissism, dogmatism, and anger. Furthermore, they scored lowest when it comes to agreeableness and positive relations with others.

Using special text analysis software, the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt found that New Atheists very often wrote in dogmatic terms in their major works using words such as “always,” “never,” “certainly,” “every,” and “undeniable.” Of the 75,000 words in Sam Harris's The End of Faith, 2.24% of them connote or are associated with certainty.

The National reported concerning the agnostic and evolutionist Richard Dawkins:

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There was a time when the British scientist Richard Dawkins was widely admired... More recently, he has shifted his attention to religion and has become known as one of its fiercest opponents. His insistence on allowing for none of the shade and subtlety that characterise the works of scholars such as Karen Armstrong, author of acclaimed books on Islam and the history of the monotheistic religions, have offended and infuriated millions. But they also have thrilled his followers who wish all discussion of faith to be banished to the fringes of the public square. Mr Dawkins has always been pugnacious. When I interviewed the philosopher Daniel Dennett, a professor at Tufts University and a fellow leading member of an atheist group that calls itself the Brights, he described himself as being the “good cop” to Mr Dawkins’s “bad cop”. Mr Dennett conceded: “Richard is so hostile and aggressive that he’s unsympathetic.” But now, Mr Dawkins’s unwillingness to treat anyone who disagrees with him as though they had even half a functioning brain cell is putting off even his own supporters. “Richard Dawkins, whatever happened to you?” read a recent headline in The Guardian, the British newspaper whose readers and staff are generally among the most sympathetic to him. What does it say when a home to some of the most ardent atheists wants Richard Dawkins, frankly, to put a sock in it?

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Christianity Today indicated about Richard Dawkins:

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Some atheists have sought to distance themselves from Dawkins because they feel the combative way in which he argues against faith is doing more harm than good for the atheist cause. Dawkins appears to care little about what others think about his approach, atheist or otherwise, as after all these years he's still gunning for the religious. In his own eyes at least, "aggressive" would be too strong a term for his stinging attacks on faith. "I'm not aggressive!" Dawkins exclaimed in last week's appearance at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (University of Connecticut), when Dean Jeremy Teitelbaum asked him why he had come to take "quite an aggressive stand against God and promote atheism". On second thoughts, "Well, perhaps I'm angry," he admitted, before dropping the pretences altogether and making clear what he thinks about anyone who teaches children anything other than his beliefs on evolution.

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Richard Dawkins and anger about the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross

YouTube features a number of videos where Richard Dawkins gets very angry about the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross: Richard Dawkins gets angry

Anger of Richard Dawkins towards Rebecca Watson post Elevatorgate

See also: Feminist quotes about Richard Dawkins

David Silverman

Elevatorgate is a term commonly used to describe a scandal involving New Atheist Richard Dawkins' 2011 comments made to atheist Rebecca Watson which are perceived to have been inappropriate by a sizable portion of the atheist community and to the public at large.

A post-Elevatorgate article by Sarah posted at Skepchick about a conversation between New Atheist Richard Dawkins and David Silverman who is the president of the American Atheists organization:

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Richard was standing behind the podium, and he asked Dave something along the lines of, “What exactly is the Reason Rally?” Dave started explaining it, and as he did, someone who was waiting in the line outside opened the door to peek inside and we could all hear a lot of noise. I rushed up the aisle and made frantic “shut the door” gestures at the people peeking inside, and they did. As I walked the ten feet back, I couldn’t hear everything Dave was saying, but I heard the name “Rebecca Watson.” Richard suddenly had a very angry look on his face and I heard him almost shout, “No, absolutely not! If she’s going to be there, I won’t be there. I don’t want her speaking.” and then Dave immediately replied, “You’re absolutely right, we’ll take her off the roster. It’s done.” Richard huffed for a moment, Dave continued to placate him, and then he made the video. I was crushed.

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Richard Dawkins, chronic high blood pressure and his doctors medical advice

See also: New Atheism leaders and unhealthy lifestyles

According to Glenn Gandelman, MD, "A recent study indicates that angry men have higher blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease.

Atheism, biblical fools and anger

The writers of the Bible considered the existence of God to be self-evident and Moses simply wrote: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1).

Accordingly, the psalmist David declared:

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." — Psalms 14:1 (KJV)

King Solomon declares in the book of Proverbs: "A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back." (Proverbs 29:11).

See also

• Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins
• Atheism and anger