Why do some theists hate Richard Dawkins?

Answer 1

As a Christian I feel sadness and pity for Richard Dawkins and those who follow his views which are not well informed, particularly when he speaks about the Christian faith. Some fellow-atheists also do not regard Dawkins as well-informed. He is also inconsistent in terms of his philosophical position. On one hand he says 'that's just tough' when speaking about meaninglessness in the evolutionary/atheist position in regard to meaning and purpose in the universe and then on another occasion he states how sad it was in reference to a serious accident with a school bus. If the universe is ultimately meaningless and there is no God as Dawkins believes then he needs to be consistent to have credibility in terms of his position of meaninglessless and blind chance.

Dawkins intolerance of the position of others is also legendary. If his position is so watertight as he believes then one wonders why he attempts to silence other views and why he and his followers are so defensive. This inconsistency and intolerance (everyone has a right to my opinion) and his failure to recognize that his own position carries its own problems philosophically in terms of the ultimate meaningless of blind chance applying to Dawkins' own position itself. This inconsistency in terms of recognizing the problems with his own position rightly draw criticism from theists and atheists alike, as does his stated aim to 'kill religion.'

It also would be interesting for the presuppositions in the question to be substantiated in terms of actual evidence. People often fail to make a distinction between a profound disagreement of philosophical position as stated briefly above and a personal hatred. I totally disagree with Dawkins' position but I do not hate him. He is both misguided and inconsistent as is evident by what he says. His ignorance is also profound. Even on scientific matters some fellow scientists express concern about his position. While it is certainly correct to state that hatred is not at least a Christian theistic position, such is not a position that has any checks on it in terms of Dawkins' own position towards Christians. Certainly this brings various reactions from people. Some of the strongest criticism of Dawkins' position I have personally seen is from fellow-atheists who are concerned he will give Atheism and science a bad name. Christian theists tend to ignore him in terms of credibility, since he is so blatantly intolerant and ignorant of the Christian position in so many areas.

Another answer:

By objectively evaluating such a situation, it is extremely plausible that certain theists who vehemently voice their stance on Richard Dawkins are either too afraid to hear the truth, be forced out of their comfort zone, and have to re-evaluate their meaning of their life and/or feel the need to be anti any intellect who has empirically decided to display opinions that are not in accordance with the norm. The majority of these few theists will probably also denounce any type of concept that is not within their understanding or belief system.

The following fallacies could also be relevant:

• Achilles heel: Finding a single fault in a system of concepts in order to condemn the whole system
• Argumentum ad hominem: Attacking a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument/claim
• Argumentum ad populum: Agreeing with the majority to conclude the correct truth of a proposition

All assumptions that "theism" refers only to Christianity, many theists would have reason to hate him because he disproves most of their core beliefs quite well and belittles them for holding such easily beaten ideas.

Answer 2

It could be said that hate is a most non-Christian emotion, but nevertheless some theists probably do hate Professor Dawkins. The first reason for that hatred is probably that, as a professor of science, he he is particularly well-informed and his arguments are hard to refute. Secondly, his opposition to both religion and creationism has become a personal crusade for him.