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Randal Rauser

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Why won’t Dawkins stop the spread of Craig’s virulent memes?

October 22, 2011 by Randal

I hope this is my last word on the topic of Dawkins’ immoral cowardice in refusing to debate William Lane Craig. But I think it is really important to hammer home the degree to which Dawkins is shirking the responsibility that lies on his shoulders to deal with Craig once and for all.

Dawkins has described religion as a “mind virus”. If it is a mind virus then the strain that Craig is spreading when he defends Old Testament genocide is particularly virulent. And Dawkins, as the enlightened atheist, is presumably the one who is fit to deal with Craig. If Dawkins really could defeat Craig in a debate then it is his moral obligation to do so. After all, such a victory would be equivalent to providing innoculations to tens of thousands of individuals and an antitode to tens of thousands of others already infected with Craig’s memes.

Think about that for a moment. Dawkins’ argument is that he will not debate Craig because Craig has been particularly active and successful at spreading his virulent religious memes in the wider community. What kind of reasoning is that? If ever Dawkins has a moral obligation to counteract the spread of a mind virus it is in this situation.

And so we have yet another illustration to bring into striking broad relief the height, depth and breadth of Dawkins’ immoral cowardice.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: debate, meme, mind virus, religion, Richard Dawkins, William Lane Craig

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