Difference between revisions of "Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website"

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See also: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]]
 
See also: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]]
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=== Richard Dawkins' Foundation and charges of exploitation and cultish behavior ===
 
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[[Image:2402173645 c8e6168fe7.jpg|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|200px|left|Richard Dawkins ]]
 
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''See also:''  [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]]
 
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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:
 
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{{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...
 
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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.’
 
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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.
 
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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>}}
 
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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>
 
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[[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>
 
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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>
 
  
 
== Majority of web visitors to Richard Dawkins' website are men ==
 
== Majority of web visitors to Richard Dawkins' website are men ==

Revision as of 03:15, May 4, 2017

Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins

RichardDawkins.net is a website run the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science which sells books, videos, and various merchandise; as well as the home to Richard Dawkins' forums.

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.[1]

”

According to The Richest, "Richard Dawkins..has an estimated net worth of $135 million ($100 euro) according to the Sunday Times in 2012."[2]

Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science embezzlement allegation relating to his website

Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins

See also: Richard Dawkins and morality and Atheist nonprofit 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...[3]

”

Atheist Hemant Mehta reported in 2011 that Dawkins ended his legal actions against Mr. Timonen.[4]

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.[5] ”

See also: Richard Dawkins' loss of influence

Majority of web visitors to Richard Dawkins' website are men

See also: Richard Dawkins and women and Atheism and women

According to the website tracking firm Alexa, women frequent the website of richarddawkins.net significantly less than men.[6]

Prior to the Elevatorgate controversy, Monica Shores' Ms. Magazine article titled Will “New Atheism” Make Room For Women? criticized the News Atheism movement for being sexist.[7] She also cited Conservapedia in her article and indicated: "The lack of lady presence is so visible that Conservapedia commented on it by noting that Dawkins’ website overwhelmingly attracts male visitors."[8]

Richard Dawkins' website traffic

See also: Elevatorgate news stories and Blog posts on Elevatorgate

Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post Elevatorgate and due to his generally abrasive manner, as noted above, he does retain a small cult following (See: Richard Dawkins' cult of personality and Atheist cults).

Dawkins is a leading figure in the New Atheism movement which was called a cult by the agnostic, journalist Bryan Appleyard in a 2012 article in the New Statesman in which he describes the abusive behavior of New Atheists.[9] The Dawkian atheists have been able to retain Richard Dawkins being labeled as an atheist in his Wikipedia article despite Dawkins repeatedly and adamantly declaring that he is an agnostic and/or flip-flopping his public persona between atheism and agnosticism (See: Richard Dawkins and agnosticism).

Initial loss of web traffic to Richard Dawkins's website post Elevatorgate

According to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast, the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website fell in 2012.[10] By October 2014, the web traffic for his website fell to a lower level according to Quantcast.[11]

In October of 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.[12]

The web traffic was measured via Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.[13]

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.[14] 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.[13]

Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website

See also: Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website

According to Alexa, Richard Dawkins website lost a large amount of its global market share during to period between 2010 and the beginning portion of 2012.
In 2015, Richard Dawkins' website fell in terms of its Alexa ranking.
In 2016, Richard Dawkins' website lost a considerable amount of global market share according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa.
In the latter half of 2016, Richard Dawkins' website saw a significant decline in its Alexa ranking.
In 2016 and the in the beginning portion of 2017, the global internet market share of of Richard Dawkins' website has been falling according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ The bizarre – and costly – cult of Richard Dawkins, The Spectator, Andrew Brown 16 August 2014
  2. ↑ Richard Dawkins Net Worth
  3. ↑ An ungodly row: Dawkins sues his disciple
  4. ↑ Richard Dawkins Drops His Lawsuit Against Former Employee
  5. ↑ Richard Dawkins sues Josh Timonen, Posted by David Gorski on October 24, 2010
  6. ↑ http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/richarddawkins.net
  7. ↑ Will “New Atheism” Make Room For Women by Monica Shores, Ms. Magazine
  8. ↑ Will “New Atheism” Make Room For Women by Monica Shores, Ms. Magazine
  9. ↑ The God wars by Bryan Appleyard, New Statesman
  10. ↑ 2012 has been a very BAD year for Richard Dawkins's website according to Quantcast
  11. ↑ Richard Dawkins' loss of influence
  12. ↑ It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too: I spoke out about sexual harassment among atheists and scientists. Then came the rape threats by Rebecca Watson, Slate, October 2012
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Quantcast - Quantcast Measure
  14. ↑ Web traffic of Richard Dawkins' main website
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