Richard Dawkins’ Speech at the Reason Rally April 7, 2012

Richard Dawkins’ Speech at the Reason Rally

By Hemant Mehta
April 7, 2012

Below is high-quality video of Richard Dawkins‘ speech at the Reason Rally (Dawkins starts speaking at the 10:21 mark).

Sean Faircloth (Director of Strategy & Policy at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science) provides the opening act while talking about his Ten Point Vision of a Secular America.

RDFRS Executive Director Dr. Elisabeth Cornwell speaks out in defense of women and points out how religion oppresses them. Her talk begins at the 6:54 mark.

(via richarddawkinsdotnet)

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  • I came too late to see Richard Dawkin’s speech but, it was such a wonderful event. I had a great time! We are taking our son to the Summer camp this summer. 🙂

  • Dawkins is terrific as always, as is Elisabeth Cornwell. But Sean Faircloth is such an empassioned speaker and never fails to mention the potential for child abuse inherent in religion. I may be positively biased since I’ve met him, but his fervor for justice constantly amazes me.

  • Anonymous

    RDFRS Executive Director Dr. Elisabeth Cornwell speaks out in defense of women and points out how religion oppresses them.

    That doesn’t necessarily disprove religious beliefs. What if a god wants men to oppress women as part of a well ordered society?

    As I’ve tried to articulate elsewhere, advocates of patriarchy can invoke empirical evidence, unlike theists. We can’t observe gods, but men have had to live with women all along. 

  • Dawkins was good as usual but I felt his talk (and those of some others) went against the advertised reason for the rally. David Silverman went around to most media outlets and almost all the atheist podcasts to flog for the rally. He talked about all the closeted and uninvolved atheists and the rally was meant to convince them to join an organization within the movement. It seemed to me that the best way to convince those that are not already involved would be to show them there is a community for them here and that they are welcome. I saw virtually none of that at the rally. As an atheist I did enjoy the rally but if the intended audience and recipient of the messages were those atheists that were afraid to come out or didn’t see a reason to then I think the intent fell flat. Vitriol and rousing “we are right and they are wrong” speeches have their place but they won’t bring many closeted atheists in to the fold.

  • Rohit Ajitkumar

    I saw all of three of them speak at the North West Free Thought Conference. Sean Faircloth was brilliant and I got his book as soon as I got home. Dr. Dawkins was brilliant as usual and there were a couple of pastors from the Clergy project too.

  • Dawkins isn’t anything terrific. He is trying to build a war against the theists. He demands respect, but then he shovels his personal vendetta, turning his worshipers into his obedient little soldiers, ready to go off to battle. This man is dangerous, IMHO.

  • Oh now there is a summer camp? I hope all you Atheists keep chanting “I am not a religion, I am not a religion”…

  • Bodhidharma78

     so are you saying that football teams are a religion?

  • SolaFides

    “People who claim to be religious should be mocked and ridiculed with contempt.” -Richard Darwins. I think he delegitimized himself right there.