The philosopher Leo Strauss once spoke of the reductio ad Hitlerum. By this he meant the promiscuous tendency of people to try to score a debating point by comparing their opponents to Hitler. The form of the argument is something like this: "My opponent doesn't like strawberry ice cream. Hitler didn't like strawberry ice cream. My opponent is just like Hitler." Strauss's point was that the reductio ad Hitlerum is the mark of the lazy and illogical mind.
Sure enough, here is Richard Dawkins employing the reductio against me in a recent comment on his website richarddawkins.net. Referring to me and a conservative rabbi named Boteach, Dawkins writes: "It occurs to me that people like Boteach and D'Souza may be honestly unaware that they shriek and yell in such an unbecoming way. Maybe this is just what preachers of a certain kind do. So people who profession is to preach, or who live their lives surrounded by preachers, just don't hear their ugly yells and shrieks as we do. They have become so inured to the preaching style of yelling that the resemblance to Hitler passes them by.
"I'm not suggesting that Boteach and D'Souza have literally damaged their ears. But at a higher cortical level they may have become desensitized through years of preaching, and exposure to preachers, so they don't hear, and literally and honestly don't understand, the strong resemblance to the hideous vocal style of Hitler. Once again, I need to emphasize that the comparison with Hitler is limited to vocal style. Of course nobody is suggesting that either Boteach or D'Souza have similar opinions to Hitler, or resemble him in any other way at all.
"But imagine listening to a Boteach speech or a D'Souza speech or a Hitler speech with no knowledge of English or German. I suspect that you'd hardly notice the difference. Contrast it with a speech by Christopher Hitchens. The voice is strong, even a little thrilling. But there's no hysteria there. The words match the content: measured, thoughtful, strong and powerful but never hysterical."
Had this not appeared on Dawkins' website, I would have thought it parody. But who can bring himself to laugh? Does Dawkins have any idea of how gross it is to compare a rabbi to Hitler on the sole ground that both men had a tendency to raise their voices? If this isn't anti-Semitism at the very least it shows a shocking disregard for what the Holocaust means to Jews. Perhaps the kindest explanation is that Dawkins has a pathological hatred for the clergy, and Boteach is a rabbi.
I, on the other hand, am a scholar and author. Dawkins, who knows this, weirdly insinuates that I am a preacher or spend most of my time with preachers. This couldn't be further from the truth. I have been a secular writer for 20 years and mostly I speak to university audiences and business groups. Moreover, the atheists I debate, like Michael Shermer and Peter Singer and Christopher Hitchens, routinely tell me how effectively I use wit and repartee and rhetorical understatement and learned analogies to make my points. Far from using "yells" and "shrieks," the only time I can recall even raising my voice was during my debate with Daniel Dennett, and this was not because I was upset but only because the microphone was not working properly.
I suspect that Dawkins has come up with this pathetic reductio ad Hitlerum in order to justify his cowardice in not debating me. "I can't debate Dinesh because he will use his Hitler voice to shout me down." Isn't the real problem that Dawkins has used his zoologist's credentials in order to wander into fields (physics, astronomy, history, phiosophy, anthropology, theology) where his knowledge is embarrassingly limited? I suspect he's worried that in a debate I will exposure his ignorance and make him an international object of ridicule.
Why not prove me wrong, Richard? Come out from under your desk and take me up on my invitation to debate. I promise to speak in whispers!
And here's some news from our Department of Atheists Who Aren't Wimps: On Friday July 11, I will debate Christopher Hitchens at the big libertarian conference Freedom Fest in Las Vegas. Our topic is "Christianity, Islam and the War on Terror." For more information go to freedomfest.com or simply click here.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 29)
31. "Bock, Bock, Bock"...ol' Rev is choked on his own chicken again.
sparrow at 10:00AM on Jul 7th 2008
32. "The film shows that Intelligent Design should be on the table for discussion. But if you're looking for ammo to argue your Darwinist friends under the table, look elsewhere."
A quote from Mark Moring, Christianity Today.
"Regardless of your personal views, Expelled's heavy-handed bias (a visit to Darwin's home gets the same eerie music as a tour of Dachau) is exasperating."
"Embracing evolutionary theory will turn you into a close-minded, God-denying Nazi -- that's the upshot of this ludicrous propaganda piece."
It seems that the critics of Expelled are making the same point that DD is in his blog. The tactic is sleazy and theists do it all the time.
a born atheist at 10:03AM on Jul 7th 2008
33. Doesn't PV bring up Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot every time he starts losing a discussion?
a born atheist at 10:05AM on Jul 7th 2008
34. ABA: I think he's given up on Hitler because the evidence to too overwhelming that he was in fact a Christian. But the others he does, ALL THE TIME.
I'm not even sure if he knows they were Communist, he's so focused on the Atheist part.
Ryan Anderson at 10:08AM on Jul 7th 2008
35. oj did it
fred at 10:13AM on Jul 7th 2008
36. I can't believe Denish is crying over someone calling him names. Not even worth commenting on.
Let's change the subject. Read the below article of a Hebrew tablet describing the idea of a suffering messiah who endures death and resurrection before Jesus's time.
Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/world/middleeast/06stone.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
goddess1prevail at 10:35AM on Jul 7th 2008
37. I can't remember the post, but I DO remember thinking- "Who ordered the hammer and nails?"
This time, Dinesh is even furnishing the cross.
OUCH! Have fun, y'all!
Robert at 10:36AM on Jul 7th 2008
38. Hitler's Final Solution - Erase ALL JEWS.
Dinesh's Final Solution - Erase ALL ATHEISTS.
Yup, you're just like he was.
Robert at 10:38AM on Jul 7th 2008
39. I just found out that Klaus Kinski has played Jesus. I'd love to see his interpretation.
Mokele Mbembe at 10:39AM on Jul 7th 2008
40. In a speech-manuscript by Winston Churchill, there was in the margin a note from Churchill to himself, pointing to a particular part of the speech. The note said: "Argument weak. Shout"
b_andrew at 4:44PM on Jul 7th 2008
41. goddess1prevail thanks for posting the tablet story. As always, you have fascinating information.
JefFlyingV at 10:47AM on Jul 7th 2008
42. Probably very existential, and perhaps a bit self-absorbed. Much like dinesh, playing Rev 3:16.
America's Most Gangsta at 10:50AM on Jul 7th 2008
43. "Does Dawkins have any idea of how gross it is to compare a rabbi to Hitler on the sole ground that both men had a tendency to raise their voices?"
First let me state, that I do not share a lot of the beliefs as Dawkins. However, in regards to some of the statements you posted from him, he is pretty much right on the money. In regards to the referenced post above, this gives a clear example of you never listening or reading. You are so stuck on yourself and your Catholic/Neocon ideology, that you can't have a rational discussion or accept criticism.
He compared your vocal style to Hitler. That is it!. You like to yell, and you like to hear yourself talk and read your own writings. That is a fair comparison.
"I have been a secular writer for 20 years and mostly I speak to university audiences and business groups."
My ass you are. You are a Neocon propagandist and apologetic who spreads false information about our faith, and continue to feed wrong information to the less than educated citizens who routinely get buttfucked by Government leaders that share the same ideologies as yourself. You have mastered the technique of deflecting what is wrong with you and the Neocons, and spreading false information on your oppositions and using the genuine faiths of the Followers to con them in supporting you. And even after your leaders have done the opposite of what the promised in their campaigns, the followers still vote you in thinking everyone else is the enemy.
Quite brilliant actually, but very evil.
"Why not prove me wrong, Richard?"
All Dawkins really has to do, is pull up your posts from the last 2 years, and show videos of your debates, and that will be enough. The evidence is there for anyone to see how you simply have an unimaginable ego, and love to spread division.
But you know this already.
I not a fan of Dawkins. In a way, he is the same as you with opposite beliefs. But that is why he pegs you so well.
Botts at 10:53AM on Jul 7th 2008
44. Interesting article, Goddess. But, will it really mean anything? I paraphrase- "This will shake the faith..." Doubtful, even with the abundance of similar mythology (see- "Zeitgeist").
On the other hand, I DO hear cries of- "Prophesy!" and Christians of every stripe rejoicing in the "Good News".
And ne'er the twain shall meet...
Robert at 10:55AM on Jul 7th 2008
45. Happy belated 4th of July....
there are predictions of a suffering messiah in the old testament (Isaiah 53)... I am not seeing how this tablet is igniting debate...interesting find though.
I thought Hilter was into the occult... the whole rise of the Aryan race and the surrounding myths.
Shannie at 10:57AM on Jul 7th 2008