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 5 of 29)
61. You know when DD hits a nerve, all the atheists who love following this blog are up in arms.
All DD's points are right. Dawkins is a complete wuss, and intellectual novice, not even remotely in the league of DD. It's no wonder to anyone why he won't take on Dinesh. Dawkins is scared, and knows he'll get owned like he did at the end of Expelled.
seattlecard at 12:07PM on Jul 7th 2008
62.
Moke:
I, too, find Ann's references to excrement very telling. It speaks of one of these disorders:
1. Extreme constipation
2. Rampant diarrhea
3. Coprophagia
4. Reverse coprophagia
I'm thinking it might be a syndrome of #3 and #4.
I'm picturing it....................yes! That's it.
Linda at 12:06PM on Jul 7th 2008
63. Linda,
Hmm, maybe 2 Girls 1 Cup is his screensaver.
Mokele Mbembe at 12:09PM on Jul 7th 2008
64. Actually, he wanted one, but alas, the E.D. in dd is still raging. Perhaps if he thinks of Muslim schoolgirls and vaginas in the same train of thought, he will conquer his affliction....that is truly his only hope, but I still doubt it will work for him. Hmm, perhaps if he fantasized about Eva Braun?? After all, she was white....
America's Most Gangsta at 12:11PM on Jul 7th 2008
65. I'm picturing it....................yes! That's it.
Linda
>>>
Look in the mirror and you can see the shit I'm talking about, Linduh.
Thomas J Gassett at 12:10PM on Jul 7th 2008
66. 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").
Sure it does! As archeology sheds more light into Levant tradition during and after the life of Jesus it becomes apparent of all the myth sharing that occurred in those times, even within certain Jewish sects, Samaritan Jews especially who were susceptible to surrounding cultures and ideas.
Faith shaking has been going on for a while as statistics show how 33% of Christians don't believe the resurrection to be literal anymore. Those numbers are climbing. Look at Barna group studies that show how the fundamental beliefs of Christianity are not taken literal anymore
As for zeitgeist, I did see it. It is a little misinformed and the story of the saviors over generalized to make a point.
goddess1prevail at 12:35PM on Jul 7th 2008
67.
All DD's points are right. Dawkins is a complete wuss, and intellectual novice, not even remotely in the league of DD. It's no wonder to anyone why he won't take on Dinesh. Dawkins is scared, and knows he'll get owned like he did at the end of Expelled.
You are living in a fantasy world. Dawkins is a highly respected academic quite apart from the stance he has taken on religion. He has been teaching at Oxford University since the 70's. When he comments on evolution it is as a zoologist of enormous reputation. It is his incisive intellect and academic background that makes him the object of such loathing amongst the religious bigots who can only produce posturing, self regarding buffoons like D'Souza
timbo at 12:53PM on Jul 7th 2008
68. 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.-shannie
The tablet refers to the dead rising in 3 days, something Isaiah does not mention. It was not known just how much influence the attributes of death and resurrection cults had on the Hebrew culture until now. The tablet provides information on how some Jewish sects were susceptible to this ideology of pagan astrological traditions.
Isaiah 53, the poem is shown to be understood by the Hebrews always to be about the nation of Israel as a whole represented by the suffering servant. In his Contra Celsus Origen wrote:
I remember that once in a discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I used these prophecies [Isaiah 52:13-53:8]. At this the Jew said that these prophecies referred to the whole people as though of a single individual, since they were scattered in the dispersion and smitten, that as a result of the scattering of the Jews among the other nations many might become proselytes. In this way he explained the text: "Thy form shall be inglorious among men"; and "those to whom he was not proclaimed shall see him"; "being a man in calamity." (Origen, Contra Celsum, trans. Henry Chadwick, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Book 1.55, 1965, p. 50)
"Critics, including Jews for Judaism founder Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz in his book "The Jewish Response To Missionaries," of the Christian viewpoint claim that the Isaiah 53 passage is mistranslated in Christian Bibles to support theological concepts. The original Hebrew, they argue, portrays a different picture. For example, the preposition "mi" in Isaiah 53:5 and 53:8 is commonly translated as "for." The meaning of "mi" is not for but rather "from" or "because of". Thus the Judaica Press Tanach translates Isaiah 53:5 as: "But he was pained because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his wound we were healed." Other examples of translation errors[citation needed] are Isaiah 53:8 where the Hebrew phrase "mi-pesha’ ‘ami niga’ lamo" is translated as "for the transgression of my people was he stricken". The word "lamo" is the poetic form of the Hebrew "lahem" which means their/them not him and is used as such throughout the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish rendition of Isaiah 53:8 then is: "because of the transgression of my people, a plague befell them." Based on this, the servant is argued to be a collective entity not a person. This claim is supported by the fact that the Hebrew word for "death" in the following verse of Isaiah 53:9, "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;" is plural."
Remember, this book was written after the Babylonian captivity hence the suffering of its nation.
goddess1prevail at 12:50PM on Jul 7th 2008
69. Should we start talking about theoretical physics so Tom Gasset calms down and starts acting like a regular human?
(it's such a strange phenomenon, if no one has noticed)
Ryan Anderson at 12:52PM on Jul 7th 2008
70. I find it fascinating that so many Dinesh-haters spend so much time reading and responding to his blog! If you're trying to descredit this guy, your current strategy is far from effective. By giving him so much of your attention, you confirm that, although you despise him, you find him significant (otherwise, you'd be reading and responding to somebody else's articles). The sheer volume of negative comments on his blog only increases his national prominence. Keep up the good work!
Troy at 1:03PM on Jul 7th 2008
71. Ryan, we can discuss anything you like, Im not sure that will keep Gasset from adding anything intelligent to the conversation. It seems every other word out of his mouth is 3rd grade grammar. He didn't even strike up a good topic, only called everyone turds!
goddess1prevail at 1:04PM on Jul 7th 2008
72. Hi goddess.. interesting view.. it could mean both an individual and the nation.. I have seen that in scripture as well. To me, it is interesting how much detail there is in that passage that literally was true about Jesus and his death (grave reference, no broken bones, divided clothing, etc..) Just curious, do the other death/resurrection stories have this?
Shannie at 1:14PM on Jul 7th 2008
73. Ryan,
Some thing like "Theoretical physics is godless physics, you atheist turds."
Mokele Mbembe at 1:16PM on Jul 7th 2008
74. "nothing new here" is his nervous tick.
He had an uncharacteristically civil discussion about the big bang with Clif (I think) a couple weeks ago.
It was the weirdest thing.
Ryan Anderson at 1:21PM on Jul 7th 2008
75.
Dinesh, your detractors exemplify Education without Virtue to the max. Just like Dawkins.
Filled with useless Pride, his words are filled with fluff and his actions decry the Truth of his heart; Fear.
He could never match you in any debate.
Not even close.
Christian at 1:39PM on Jul 7th 2008