Redneck Dawkins
What if he had a Southern accent? (a suggestion by my son)
Of all the criticisms directed at Richard Dawkins (mostly by people who have not read his books) I am most mystified by the notion that he is “strident” or “arrogant” or ever “rude” to believers. This is largely a matter of definition; as far as some people are concerned, simply the act of questioning their unexamined beliefs is rude. But apart from that I think there may be a cultural element. So I propose an experiment if somebody majoring in sociology wants to dig up a grant.
Suppose you had a video of Richard Dawkins from his ‘God Delusion’ series, and you reproduced it as closely as possible using an actor with a heavy Southern accent - say Georgia or Texas. The actor should be quite a few pounds heavier than Dawkins, and dress in typically American fashion. In other words, he should look and sound stereotypically American. Same words, different guy.
Now play the two videos to two groups of participants in several different American cities, hopefully individuals who had never heard Dawkins speak before. Afterward, ask some standard sociological questions: “Was professor Dawkins credible? Would you like to hear more from him? Would you share a meal with him?
The thing is, I’ve read several books by Dawkins, and quite a few videos, and I’ve never seen him be disrespectful or rude to anyone or even speaking about anyone. I’d just be fascinated to know what percentage of his negative public image is due to the fact that he’s a tweedy professor who speaks with a British accent. Sometimes I think it’s “Those hoity-toity British! Speaking in their fake-sounding British accents…“
Yep. Indeed, I’ve read many comments on Dawkins by fundamentalists who simply say, more or less, “I can’t stand the sound of his voice”.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Posted by zilch on 12/25/07 at 01:42 PMI just blogged about how the round-table “Four Horseman” talk shows such different sides of not only Dawkins, but also Harris. Hitchens is still the tiresome, pontificating windbag I normally find him to be, but Harris and Dawkins are so much easier to like when outside of debates with, or polemics against, the faithful.
I really hope they continue these talks.
Posted by Clay on 12/26/07 at 03:14 AMI’ve only read The God Delusion, but I didn’t find that book to be especially rude or obnoxious. That others have mystifies me.
Posted by Paul Sunstone on 12/26/07 at 08:44 PMI’ve read (and need to re-read) River Out Of Eden and The Blind Watchmaker, both excellent. Next is to finish Climbing Mount Improbable (which I’ve misplaced) and then The God Delusion.
In the 2-hour video “4 Horsemen” discussion between the current four atheist authors, Daniel Dennett (who is often mistaken for Santa Claus) said “there is no really polite way to say ‘you’ve wasted your life on a mistaken belief’. I mean, we try to soften the blow but it’s unwelcome news and not likely to be received without every kind of resistance.
I actually am quite concerned for Dawkins’ safety on his upcoming US Bible-Belt tour.
Posted by george.w on 12/26/07 at 08:59 PMI know Harris has to employ armed guards nowadays when he goes anywhere. I would hope Dawkins does too.
Posted by Paul Sunstone on 12/27/07 at 10:56 AMIt’s pathetic it comes to that.
But I think DOF is getting somewhere her, it’s the British accent more than anything.
My Dad and I watched the crappy movie Firewall with Harrison Ford in about 10 minutes (speed viewing it… yes it truly was that bad). My Dad asked, “Why do all the villains in American movies have to have a British accent?“ I said because we associate that sort of foreign accent with villains.
So I think you find more people to be receptive to the Southern Drawl in DOFs experiment than to the British accent.
Posted by webs05 on 12/29/07 at 12:37 PM
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