Controversial biologist Richard Dawkins dismissed the Catholic idea of sainthood as "pure Monty Python" while speaking at the 2010 Global Atheist Convention held at Melbourne, Australia, on March 14. "The whole idea of creating saints is pure Monty Python,'' Dawkins reportedly told the audience.
''Why do they have to clock up two miracles? These are people we are supposed to take seriously," said Dawkins. He admitted that while he is more accustomed to criticizing Christian fundamentalists, he believes that Catholics and fundamentlists are not too different.
The idea that Christian theologians believed in miracles and had doctors say people were cured from cancer was "surreal", he said. Said Dawkins, "[It] completely gives the lie to the claim that sophisticated theologians should look down on fundamentalist wingnuts. They are all the same."
An Australian newscaster, Robyn Williams, said that Dawkins also piled on Australian Senator Steve Fielding of Family First. Said Dawkins, "I can give you a devastating argument against religion in two words — Senator Fielding. Richard Dawkins said his IQ is lower than an earthworm, but I think earthworms are useful," Williams said.
Dawkins is the author of "The Selfish Gene," among other works, and is the founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science - a nonprofit organization recognized in the United States and the United Kingdom.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Google+