Richard Dawkins - Islamophobe?

April 1st again already? Hmm, no.
Are you honestly saying that evolution is "a white tradition" and because lots of IDiots are muslim and there are lots of muslims then reality must conform to IDiocy?

Razib,

Someone hacked your ScienceBlogs account.

I gotta admit, you're the man when it comes to this kind of parody, Razib. ;-)

Chet? Chet Snicker? Is that you? I missed ya man!

... you are kidding, right?

I would like to believe that an appeal to rationality could transcend all the deplorable walls that divide humans by color, creed or whatever. But then what do I know, I'm just a Live White Woman.

No, wait, actually I'm not going to shut up. Because this pointless rant of yours is intolerably insulting to the countless people "of color" who have made significant contributions to the advancement of human knowledge over the centuries, and keep doing so in increasing numbers. From the early Arab mathematicians and astronomers, for example, to the scientists of all nations today who are actively going ahead with traditions of rigorous scientific inquiry that owe nothing to Dead White Man culture.

I agree that there are terrible long-lasting consequences of the colonial era; more than we like to admit, and many (not exclusively white) people today still have a colonial-type mindset, often without even realizing it. But your rant, if it's sincere and not a poor joke (which I hope fervently) is not a legitimate denunciation of an existing prejudice; it's just a kneejerk reaction and the accusations you formulate wander freely into slander territory. You've got every right to your opinion of course; I'm hardly going to try to silence you with my words of hegemony and domination (/sarcasm).

I am in awe...

Bogus!

You laid it on a bit thick towards the end; however, some people will still not get the obvious satire.

Still can't figure out if its a poe or Razib's brain melted.

I don't know about Razib, but I think my brain melted.

If your eyes did not glaze right over by the end of that, I think you need to top your eye-glaze tank.

I call Poe to this one.

Since when is Islam a race?

It's Pat Condell all over again.

Are you honestly saying that evolution is "a white tradition" and because lots of IDiots are muslim and there are lots of muslims then reality must conform to IDiocy?

i am not telling YOU anything. as a white male you have Privilege, and i can not Compel you, as your actions have social Sanction. rather, i am contending forcefully that those who promote the EP must realize that other Cultures and Traditions need their own Space and that their Ways of Knowing must be respected. the measure of a system of heuristics and biases is not the opinion of richard dawkins, or any other White Male, in terms of how they conform to "Reality." rather, these Customs and Traditions must be validated within the normative frameworks of organically emergent networks of living.

Someone hacked your ScienceBlogs account.

are you implying that razib, i, am so lexically deficient that i am incapable of such deconstruction of White Hegemonic Power Narratives?

I would like to believe that an appeal to rationality could transcend all the deplorable walls that divide humans by color, creed or whatever. But then what do I know, I'm just a Live White Woman.

rationality is a tool of the Master. by your assertions you signal that you are not who you say you are, or, your free will has been suborned by the Lies of the Master.

From the early Arab mathematicians and astronomers, for example, to the scientists of all nations today who are actively going ahead with traditions of rigorous scientific inquiry that owe nothing to Dead White Man culture.

your White Privilege shows in the glosses you make as to the history of People of Color. did you know, for example, that many of the early scientists of the islamic world were not arabs, but persians, e.g., Muḥammad ibn MÅ«sÄ al-KhwÄrizmÄ«. but in your way of thinking he is no doubt an "arab." this is shows quite clearly that to you all the Other is as one. you Marginalize them by your cavalier attitude toward the appellations which frame the boundaries of their being!

additionally, all science today is constructed on eurocentric foundations. physicists stand upon the shoulders of galileo, newton, maxwell and einstein. all Dead White Men. scholars of science of Color live within the House of the Master, and they tend to his garden, and serve as foot soldiers in his wars. they build the Master's house brick by brick, with the cast off tools of the Master!

You've got every right to your opinion of course; I'm hardly going to try to silence you with my words of hegemony and domination (/sarcasm).

the subtext of your sarcasm is that people of Color many Speak only at the Sufferance of the Master and his subjects.

Since when is Islam a race?

the *ummah* are the people who have reverted to the worship of the great one on high, the mighty god over all. the profession of faith, the beliefs, the Customs and Traditions of those who submit to the One True God define the core, the fiber, of their being. if you assault and defame the beliefs that those who submit hold dear then you tear from them their pride and dignity, you turn their lives into mud, a veil of lies and delusions. Who. Are. You. To. Declare a Lie a Lie? with whose Voice do you speak but the Voice of Privilege!

in a sophistic and logocentric manner you may slip out of the bounds which many circumscribe what you term 'racism,' but what is in your heart is known to all, and most certainly to the One True God.

Scientific truth, based on evidence but well aware of its provisional nature, is not a democratic system. The insight of a scientist or researcher starts with but one and expands, or perishes, as further experiments support or fail to support a hypothesis. It is a contest of conceptual systems judged by experimental evidence. Not numbers of believers.

It matters not one whit if everyone on the planet but one hold a belief that is false. The better, more complete and comprehensive, idea carries more weight independent of numbers of believers.

In this Dawkins wins because he backs ideas that are more correct than not. IDers, including a large proportion of Muslims, lose because their beliefs are less correct.

Multiculturalism is acceptance of others belief systems. I accept Muslims are mostly wrong on evolution. I accept their right to be wrong. I accept that they think they are right even as they are wrong.

This is sort of like a distance cousin who swears he has been abducted by aliens many times (often at times when he was well documented as being other places), fought in the Korean war (even though he is only fifty) and gets messages from spirits (even as the spirits always share his opinions and don't know more than he does). I accept him as he is. He is delusional and wrong. He has a right to be delusional and wrong.

And I have the right to point out that he is delusional and wrong. And hope that some day he will be less so.

Numbers and traditions mean nothing when judging scientific validity.

Hey Rabiz, someone hacked your account. This is an incredibly stupid article.

Scientific truth, based on evidence but well aware of its provisional nature, is not a democratic system.

ah, we know who you will allow into your privileged senate where the vox populi is disregarded....

Hey Hacker, get the heck out of his account. Your thoughts are an embarrassment to the world.

rob, are you trying to engage in perlocutionary speech so that i may be Silenced. I WILL NOT BE SILENCED, MY voice IS.

LOLed at the pseudo-sci use of "transpose." Awesome.

Also love that you're egging on the commenters too! Now we just need to find you a suitable avatar... something like "intellectual Man of Color who keeps it real by wearing Spike Lee glasses," but with a greater snob factor... maybe wearing a turtleneck or something.

maybe wearing a turtleneck or something.

the turtleneck is a symbolic restraint, and its origins are thoroughly rooted in the normative framework of the white male patriarchy.

Razib, why do you gotta be so full of hate against us white people?

Razib, why do you gotta be so full of hate against us white people?

the attempt to reconstruct resistance as hate is just an attempt to silence!

"the attempt to reconstruct resistance as hate is just an attempt to silence!"

Oh yeah, well, shut up!

I guess nobody here likes my awesomely subtle humor and irony, maybe it's because I'm white.

additionally, all science today is constructed on eurocentric foundations. physicists stand upon the shoulders of galileo, newton, maxwell and einstein. all Dead White Men.

I agree! If they're so smart, how come they're dead? Exactly.

I'm now convinced of the error of blindly accepting the fairytale of evolution. Evolution is a lie created by Yakub to give the white man power over the true faithful!

I forgot to say, thank you razib. Thank you for opening my eyes! Viva la ummah! Viva la gelato!

I guess nobody here likes my awesomely subtle humor and irony, maybe it's because I'm white.

wallowing in your privilege is not a credit to your lineage....

Evolution is a lie created by Yakub to give the white man power over the true faithful!

you attempt to trivialize all objections to the white male hegemonic order as the ravings of sectarians and schismatics?

Amen. You go, bro. Whitey, he think he mighty, but he wound too tighty. Damn the Man who gotta plan to jam the man with a tan. EP is TP for my bummy.

"wallowing in your privilege is not a credit to your lineage...."

Well that's why I do it. Think of it as my way of disrupting the Hegemonic White Male Rationalist Order (TM)* from within.

* Although I probably dampen the effectiveness of my subversion by legitimizing the White Male's legal constructs...

Chet? Chet Snicker? Is that you? I missed ya man!

SIR!!!

sincerely,
c.v. snicker

you attempt to trivialize all objections to the white male hegemonic order as the ravings of sectarians and schismatics?

trivialize? I agreed w/ you! Who gives you the right to blaspheme and call the holy word, ravings?! You're not a true believer at all, just another infidel.

I was once like you, a long long time ago, but my eyes were opened by a great man.
One day perhaps you will meet a great teacher and your eyes will be opened too.

Whoever is making the argument, it's mute. The fact "white" people discovered something doesn't change it's existence. Yes someone may choose to not believe something because a person of different race came up with said idea, but that person is then being racist and choosing what to think about based on race.

Furthermore scientific discoveries from 60 years ago and later may be from a majority of "white" people, but that was merely out of circumstance than anything else. They were in the right place at the right time. And some of those discoveries happened from those in a lower class, so other races could have made those discoveries.

Further still, evolution is not a belief. Yes you can choose to believe one politician and stand by their political system without having to answer why, but not with science. If I argue against the theory of Evolution I have to support and work hard to make such a statement. The same way Darwin did.

And further still, if Muslims living in Europe are forcing their children to not think evolution is "real" than Dawkins has a point. The color of his skin makes no difference in his point and to think otherwise is racist. MLK himself said, "Judge me not by the color of my skin..."

Along with all of this is the sillyness of the notion of "white" people. Last time I checked every continent has "white" people. Or people with "white" skin. To say that a Muslim is dark skinned, a Hispanic person is brown skinned, and an American is white is within itself showing a lack of understanding of science and multiculturalism. I had African friends in college (they grew up in Africa and moved to the US) that would be considered by most "white". Are they not an African?

webs, you live under the delusion that there is an Objective Culture-Fair Invariant Truth. that is the EP and modernist delusion, and we my friend live in a post-modern age where belief and a pluralism of Ways of Knowing are the dominate the discourse and interlingual and cultural dialogue. the eyes you like through lie to you about the nature of reality because of the *norms* you presuppose. it is no surprise then that r. dawkins FRS proudly claims that the material works of nature deny the reality of the lord most high, the most beneficent, the most merciful.

This is the most brilliant thing I have ever seen come out of Scienceblogs.

"Brilliant"... you might even say "enlightening"...

"WHY SHOULD PEOPLE OF COLOR NOT STAND WITH THEIR OWN TRADITIONS"

Hmm.

Please pardon a humble lurker (and a white one, to boot), but the Arabs are "Whites" too. (Well, Caucasoids, at least.) So that would make Islam another White Man's tradition, just like "western science".

Oh, wait...

There doesn't seem to be anything in the survey of religious position vs. evolution/design position to determine what the respondants were really thinking of when they thought of "intelligent design".

Were they really thinking of what Dembski et al have in mind, or were they simply thinking that some god somewhere, somehow, had something to do with it? I don't think that survey is very reliable as it stands, unless there's other information tucked away somewhere.

I am properly chastised and humbled. I shall never try to talk to a Muslim about science again. Algebra, yes, but I choose to offend no longer.

Thanks for making such an eloquent case, Razib. I hate myself now for being white.

I hag my head in shame, realizing that we have suppressed the multiple ways of knowing in the name of science, when the four humours, the fairies, and the demons have all been forsaken by antibiotics. An end to vaccinations, but free mezuzas for everyone! Burn more witches!

Razib, it might have been best if you'd categorized this as humour, not just for people who don't know you, but to preempt any quote-miners.

Stephen Jay Gould was a White Man.

As a White Person I am hesitant about questioning razib's classification of the Oppressor here, as his viewpoint must be as valid as any other if not more so, but can we so cavalierly deny the fundamental Otherness SJ Gould must have felt in a White Christian Man's world?

It's tempting to think that Americans are so feeble at detecting satire that they can't really be white.

a White Christian Man's world?

uh, he grew up in new york city, went to undergrad at columbia and was a professor at harvard....

I'm deeply offended. That Pythagorean construct depicted above looks like an inverted White albinoid ball sack and phallus.

Cites:

Francis Crust Welshing. The Lysol Papers.

Jean-Phil Rushweek. Racists, Evolution, and Self-Publication.

Right Said Ed. Occidentalist Otherization.

Hank Harpooning. Evolutionary Idling.

Yes, but what I meant is that the mundanity of the whiteness of SJ Gould is ruptured and complicated by white Jewish Otherness.

Raxib: you rock.

Yes, but what I meant is that the mundanity of the whiteness of SJ Gould is ruptured and complicated by white Jewish Otherness.

yes. that's why i said he had lived in new york and taught at harvard. certainly the jew is otherized in Mainstream amerika, but not in those particular environments with judeophilia and ubiquito-semitism are normative.

Razib,

You are Alan Sokal AICMFP.

I for one, welcome our new Muslim overlords.

I for one, welcome our new Muslim overlords.

since your IP is indicates that you are not american, prepare yourself.

Oy! Just who is this Razib douchebag, and why do we care?

If Razib rejects the truth of science, then it would be blasphemous for him to use any of its fruits, including modern medicine, transportation -- indeed, anything that uses electricity would be forbidden, including computers.
Oops.
Looks like you're going to spend all of eternity in hell, Razib. Bummer.
Send me a postcard when you get there!

"Oppression. Racism. Otherism. Heteronormativity. Classism. Conservatism. Homophobia. Sexism. Genderism. Gendercide. Other. Of Color. Tradition. Culture. Heritage. Other Tradition. Dead. Colonialism. Post-Colonialism. Pre-Colonialism. Way of Knowing. Way. Otherization. Whiteness. Privilege. Your Privilege. Silence. You Silence Voice....."

Goddam that's hilarious.

Anybody else noticed that RAZIB is BIZAR backwards? Only the RE is missing. But that is obvious anyway.

Razib's blog is a nice, safe space not only for my voiceless voice but also, most importantly, for my Body of Color . The bodies of color have been long enough ignored in these parts. I feel very close to razib. He's a poc, like me. Pocs understand each other and reinforce each other's voices when we reflect upon our otherized bodies .

This is a serious question:

The Enlightenment Project (EP) which marries scientism with atheism is not cultural-fair; rather, it serves as an appropriate corrective to the over-rationalism of Western Roman Catholic Christianity

What does the "over-rationalism" of Catholicism mean? Their tradition of rationalizing their Christian beliefs? Encyclicals along the lines of John Paul II's "Faith and Reason?"

razib: since your IP is indicates that you are not american, prepare yourself.

Classic.

anon, re: "overrationalism,"

Consider the root over-ration in light of the imperialist history of the Roman Catholic Church. Also ponder the Catholic description of the members of the church as body with a head, where Catholics make up a "body" also known as the church militant. In a liminal context, such as the Mass, the notional "ambiguity" is resolved by synergy and, of course, Synergism in the theological sense---itself introducing an ambiguity between cooperation with the Holy Ghost and cooptation by the (un-?)Holy See.

BTW, marking your question as "serious" is a hegemonic signifier. I leave it to you to determine the significand, or leave it indeterminate; your choice will be revealing.

There is nothing standing in the way of people of color from achieving similar heights in evolutionary and biological sciences as your so called "hegemonic white race". Look at Neil deGrasse Tyson, who happens to be an African American non-theist and argues against the ideas of an imaginary deity in the heavens controlling things for us. Why is it so hard to break the bonds of indoctrination, and face the fact that all human beings have is each other. We are insignificant to the scheme of things in the grand universe, and although it's not a comforting thought, it is what it is. You either have the fortitude to face it, or retreat into imaginary beliefs.

The fact that many eminent atheists are white has less to do with a grand conspiracy, and more to do with the seeds of 18th century enlightenment. Don't worry, because it will eventually spread to the Islamic world. In fact, I have a number of friends in the sciences who happen to be of Islamic extraction (Pakistanis, Iranians, Lebanese, a Boznian, and an Albanian) and they're also agnostics and atheists. They don't entertain the fact that some imaginary deity controls their destiny.

That's a lovely kite design in the second graphic above, but will it ever fly?

How is it that the Voice and Opinion of one White Man is worth more than the voice and opinion of 1.5 billion believers?

Considering that the voice and opinion of that one white man are based on the results of current scientific research, I (as a rational human being) think they trump the irrational, creationist beliefs of those 1.5 billion believers. If they want to wallow in the dark ages, that's up to them, but don't expect the rest of us, who are actually living in the twenty-first century, to give any respect to those beliefs. I have the same contempt for all such religious nonsense, not just Muslim.

I am trying to remain positive that at least 8 Muslim doctors out of 1432 doctors DO question ID.
I would have thought that acceptance of evolution would be a pre-requisite of graduation for medical students at least in the US.

My beautiful brown freckles are hardware,
my faith is software.

~ameen~

Razib, if you're going to do this sort of thing to a poor undergraduate phil/reli/pols student, you're going to have to start saving money to buy me a new laptop for when this one gets ruined by bone fragments shattering the screen from my HEAD EXPLODING!

Just sayin'...

How on earth did this tripe manage to find its way onto SCIENCEblogs?

I doubt this will be posted, but...

Nobel (oh dear, another dead white man) prizes have been awarded in three scientific disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine) since 1901.

Fact: Two of those have been awarded to Muslim scholars. Of those two, one was a member of what mainstream Islam considers to be a heretic sect, but let's be generous.

Let's compare Islam's achievement with that of Judaism, (I'm only comparing with Judaism because the figures are easily available).

There have been 120 Jewish Science based Noble Prize winners. But to make a true comparison, we need to look at populations. This bizarre rant claims 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. Let's say that there are around 13.2 million Jews.

Some simple long division reveals that a child raised in any randomly selected Jewish family is, on average, over 6,800 times more likely to win a science based Nobel Prize than one from a Muslim family.

Why should Muslims not stand with their own traditions?

Hmmm...

Lol. That was hilarious :)

A serious question though: surely you don't think your recently much manifested desire to rile your co-bloggers is actually going to shift their perspectives on anything - at least you've said so repeatedly on the similar efforts of the new atheist types to mock the religious. Why bother then? Just for sport?

Did I stumble onto religion blogs by mistake? Where in the above was reason, evidence, growth of knowledge, conjecture, refutation? Or have I accidentally unplugged my irony module?

MARK :
how dare you tell us and razib that his voiceless voice, the voice of his brown body , doesn't belong on scienblog ? Are you trying to make scienceblogs even more "hideously" white than it is ?

how dare you tell us and razib that his voiceless voice, the voice of his brown body , doesn't belong on scienblog ? Are you trying to make scienceblogs even more "hideously" white than it is ?

you said it, my brother of color (MBoC)!

Satire is stuff white people like... but it is madness, sheer madness, to believe that puny puns and half-baked humor can counter the white appeal of Po-Mo, 'speech theory', being offended, lawyers, religions their parents don't belong to, knowing what's best for plebs, asian fusion food, and diversity combined.

MY voice IS

I can't get over how funny this is. One of the clearest reminders of how gay the '90s were -- spoken word and slam poetry.

these fantasy-based morons will come up with any argument to hide from reality

Razib what a loon - white ideas bad, coloured ideas good.

what a total retard who doesn't seem to care HE IS the racist here.

keep talking to the walls buddy, I'm sure they are speaking back to you right this moment.

(I think Paganista put too much hemp in her granola this morning.)

I can't get over how funny this is. One of the clearest reminders of how gay the '90s were -- spoken word and slam poetry.

LOL! I love it. Razib proves his quantifiable genius again.

On the other hand, the contrast between some of the idiot commentators is striking... have they never read satire before?

Razib, maybe it was funny the first time, but the joke is really getting kind of old. Ha, ha. We get it!

Razib, maybe it was funny the first time, but the joke is really getting kind of old. Ha, ha. We get it!

no it isn't.

I AM AN EX-MUSLIM.IN DEFENSE OF EVOLUTION LET ME SAY : NO JEHOVA/ALLAH CREATED MAN FROM MUD/DIRT BUT MAN EVOLED BY NATURE FROM 1 CELLED ORGANISMS AND PROOF IS IN HUMAN DNA.

IF ANY JEHOVA/ALLAH CREATED MAN WHAT DOES IT IMPLY ?

IF ONLY 1 PAIR OF ADAM/EVE WAS CREATED,THEN HOW COME SO MANY DIFFERENT RACES OF PEOPLE,LIKE WHITE,BLACK,BROWN,
YELLOW ETC.

IF ONLY 1 PAIR OF HUMANS,THEN IT MEANS JEHOVA/ALLAH ALLOWS INCEST BETWEEN BROTHES AND SISTERS !!!! AFTER 1st COUPLE WAS CREATED BY THE IMAGINARY JEHOVA/ALLAH,THEY HAD KIDS WHO WERE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO PROCREATED AND HAD MORE KIDS AND SO ON....IT IMPLIES THAT THESE KIDS AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAD INCESTEOUS RELATIONS AND THIS WAS GIVEN SEAL OF APPROVAL BY THE SUPREME BEING ITSELF,AND IF SO,WHY TODAY IT IS NOT PRACTIED BY JEWS-CHRISTIANS/MUSLIMS ?

MANY MORE STUPIDITIES IN ISLAM,WHICH IS NOTHING BUT A COPY OF BLOOD THIRSTY RELIGION JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY.

READ TORAH/NOBLE TO KNOW THE TRUTH.

RELIGION IS A DISEASE AND TRUTH IS THE CURE.

Could use more meta-analysis of the sociopolitical implications of post-structuralist power relations in neo-colonial society and the privileged conceptualisation of Western hegemonic paradigms vis-a-vis religo-cultural traditions.

to know more abt falsehood of religion pls read :

www.evilbible.com

www.islam-watch.org

humanity,morality,spiritualism,compassion and peace
has nothing to do with blood thirsty religion judeo-christianity/islam.

why allah always ask for blood of animans and humans ?

abraham almost killed his child,jesus was killed by allah himself and today there is s much blood letting in name of religion.

stop religion,establish truth and peace.

religion is hate.bible says : truth shall set u free.
koran says truth shall stand out from error.

so truth is standing out from error = religion.

truth is love,peace,compassion,spiritualism,humanity.