In a public interview for Al Jazeera TV, Mehdi Hasan, political director of The Huffington Post UK, talked with Professor Richard Dawkins about religion and non-belief.
A segment of the interview produced some controversy. Dawkins was surprised and visibly baffled by Hasan’s admission that he believed that Mohammed flew to Heaven on a winged Horse. Literally, not as a metaphor. To Dawkins, who treasures hard truth over pleasant fiction, this is incongruous with the idea of being a rational journalist. He voiced that opinion, and on a related incident a few month later, even tweeted it. That kicked off the controversy
For example, The Guardian’s Andrew Brown took issue with Dawkin’s tweet, calling him an ill accomplished clown and bigot.
But why do so many people react harshly to Dawkin’s comment?
Because he is spot-on.
Many people feel caught in their own intellectual dishonesty, and are afraid that they, too, might become exposed to ridicule. Brown, for example, makes money writing religious books. He has a lot to lose if he admitted that he wasn’t believing stupid things.
Dawkins wrote,
A believes in fairies. B believes in winged horses. Criticize A and you’re rational. Criticize B and you’re a bigoted racist Islamophobe.
Indeed. If your personal brand of insanity has the majority, it’s safe to label the sane minority ‘bigots’.
