Richard Dawkins unleashes tirade against fans

[bipedalhumanoid]

Dawkins apology...

http://www.richarddawkins.net/articles/5165

[Beebub]

Is it just me or is there something missing in people's lives that they reacted in the way that they did to some changes to an online forum??

[bipedalhumanoid]

Is it just me or is there something missing in people's lives that they reacted in the way that they did to some changes to an online forum??

I can understand why certain people would need a free thinking oasis and this was the biggest free thinking oasis. The forum members and moderators were treated very poorly. They were all told that 4 years worth of contributions to debate & discussion were going to be deleted.

I do think some people overreacted but I fully understand why people, especially the moderators and admins were upset by the way in which they were treated by Timonen and then Dawkins when he responded.

[Dev]

Is it just me or is there something missing in people's lives that they reacted in the way that they did to some changes to an online forum??

I don't see any over reaction since the reaction consisted of strongly worded letters and blog posts. Which can never be an over reaction.

[Beebub]

There are

strongly worded letters and blog posts

and there's calling Dawkins a,

A suppurating rat’s rectum inside a dead skunk that’s been shoved up a week-old dead rhino’s twat.

or there's having a

sudden urge to ram a fistful of nails down your throat.

or a desire to (of Dawkins)

trip you up and kick you in the guts.

You and me have differing opnions of the definition of 'over reaction'.

[funkyderek]

Is it just me or is there something missing in people's lives that they reacted in the way that they did to some changes to an online forum??

Yes, there's something missing. The community that until a few days ago was a significant part of their lives. To have that ripped away without warning, to have all contact with friends completely severed, to have years worth of communication lost forever, could be very upsetting. It's not really surprising that a minority had an inappropriately hostile reaction.

[Logorrhea]

Yes, there's something missing. The community that until a few days ago was a significant part of their lives. To have that ripped away without warning, to have all contact with friends completely severed, to have years worth of communication lost forever, could be very upsetting.

Is it just me or does anyone else find the above statement a little scary? Surely if people really feel that way then removing the forum is probably doing them a service.

[bipedalhumanoid]

Yes, there's something missing. The community that until a few days ago was a significant part of their lives. To have that ripped away without warning, to have all contact with friends completely severed, to have years worth of communication lost forever, could be very upsetting.

Is it just me or does anyone else find the above statement a little scary? Surely if people really feel that way then removing the forum is probably doing them a service.

You probably feel that way because you don't live in the Bible belt. Not everyone has access to a community of like minded people. I can understand why non-believers who live in areas where the majority of people find that sense of community at their local churches might feel alienated. The statement is not scary, it is sad and it is a reality for a hell of a lot of people. A lot of these people felt liberated by the RD forum and now it's gone.

[Beebub]

To have that ripped away without warning

Yes except my quotes above were said of Dawkins after they suggested that they were going to make some changes to the site. They were not in repsonse to it being shut down. In fact he shut it down because of the over reaction to the annoucement that changes were being made.

[bipedalhumanoid]

To have that ripped away without warning

Yes except my quotes above were said of Dawkins after they suggested that they were going to make some changes to the site. They were not in repsonse to it being shut down. In fact he shut it down because of the over reaction to the annoucement that changes were being made.

That isn't accurate. They announced that the forum was going to be shut down in 30 days. The reaction to that announcement lead them to make it read only immediately.