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Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins

  • Posted by Maryam Namazie
  • On February 19, 2012
  • 5 Comments
  • free expression

Here’s Dawkins speech at the 11 February free expression rally. Best lines: A scholar usually needs to have read more than one book, people need to ‘stop being so damn respectful’ and that without freedom of speech, society would be a ‘scientific, technological, moral dark age’.

By the way, here’s Richard Dawkins’ comment on the 11 February free expression rally and also the culturally relativist position of the police in dealing with honour-based violence and crimes. He met some people at the rally who had not be helped by the police since it is ‘part of their culture’:

 

5 Comments

Al B. Quirky
Curmudgeonly evolutionist: 'I'm so cringing in fear, I'll just euphemistically refer to Islam as "Religion", and won't threaten anything but words to defend Freedom from head-chopping jihadist Sharia-merchants with nukes'.
Martyn N Hughes
Thanks for the transcript, John. I find this cultural relativist position by many to be very disheartening for many reasons. Rape, paedophilia, honour based crimes, FGM/MGM etc. Who the hell would chose that - or the threat of that - as part of their lives? That is the culture of men from yesteryear, who operate according to their allocated political manifestos (Torah, Bible and Qur'an). The human being has to be placed on a pedestal above culture, religion, politics and nationality. I can't come to understand why so many leftists still cannot accept this.
    tmaxPA
    Martyn N Hughes says:
    "The human being has to be placed on a pedestal above culture, religion, politics and nationality. I can’t come to understand why so many leftists still cannot accept this."
    Because they are aware that your conception of "the human being" is predicated on your culture, religion, politics, and nationality, perhaps. So as long as you understand why so many people who realize that are leftists, that's enough. The rest will come eventually.
      John Morales
      I don't think you've addressed the nub of Martyn's musings. (You take no issue with those who consider culture, religion, politics, and nationality as more important than humans?)
John Morales
I've taken the liberty of attempting to transcribe the second clip (hopefully not my emphases):
I've been delighted to come to this rally for freedom of speech. Ah... it's been very heartening, but I've also heard some shocking and truly disgusting stories about the way people are being treated—in Britain—including by the British police, who have been turning a blind eye on women who've been threatened with rape... and the British police are turning a blind eye, because they say "it's part of your culture". I think that's disgusting, and I think the British police should be ashamed of themselves whenever they do that — and I gather that it's a very common phenomenon.

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Maryam Namazie