Richard… an ex-fan speaks out!

[Skinny Puppy]

If you are a Richard Dawkins fan, don’t read this…

While many of us have now found a safe haven in this site and as more and more of the RDNet membership moves here, we’re still left smarting from what happened on Monday.

I’m still in disbelief that the entire site went down like a house of cards.

I know many here are waiting for Richard to speak out and explain to all of us what happened, he may address everyone, he may not. At this point I don’t have any faith or trust in anything that Richard says, he denounces fundies for their spreading lies and disregarding truth to suit their own agenda, well Richard is now in the same camp. He’s not a trustworthy man by any standards. His credibility is zero in my eyes. Regardless of what he says now or in the future, I would trust him the same way I’d trust a TV evangelist, both will say whatever they feel will appease the masses, not what is actually true.

While no, we don’t have all of the facts in yet, but if you’re standing in a pool of shit and you’re told it’s a garden of roses, you can believe that or you can use your nose and realize that all isn’t what it appears to be.

Richard Dawkins, as a prominent leader in the atheist community, is a disgrace as a representative of atheism and a hypocrite of the highest magnitude. That this could have happened without his knowledge is extremely suspect. Josh and Andrew simply couldn’t take down his forum without his express permission, either directly or indirectly. Richard isn’t a fool and when he placed the power of the forum into Josh and Andrews’ hands, the buck stops with him. Truman said ‘The buck stops here’. Regardless of all of Richard’s apologists, the buck stops at him. If he tries to pass the blame onto others’ shoulders, then he is a poor leader and shouldn’t hold such a position of trust and respect. If he can’t control his own house, who can?

He also owns computers and obviously a laptop. The fact that he’s traveling doesn’t excuse, for even a second, his deplorable behaviour in treating his loyal community with the utmost contempt and disgust. There is now traffic all over the Internet about the loss of faith in a man that we held in the highest regard. To assume that he’s unaware of what has happened is to assume that he’s too stupid to even know what his own foundation is doing.

I grant him no leeway as to his innocence. He was (it’s been documented) kept in the loop that major changes were coming, and from what I can gather, it was being implemented with his full approval.

He has lead and fooled well over 85,000 members into trusting him, giving him their loyalty and admiration, and in some cases, donating to help him to further the cause of spreading the word of atheism throughout the world.

He was perceived as a beacon of hope for many that were too afraid to come out of the religious closet for fear of alienating friends and loved ones, and in some cases, fear of their own governments should they find out that they were turning their backs on religion. He offered them a safe haven where they could get help, get their questions answered and to feel that they weren’t alone in their struggle, they had a friend in Richard and a huge community of caring people that were there to support them in their time of transition.

Now he’s turned his back on them all. He’s shown complete disregard for peoples’ feelings, hopes and aspirations that they could live a life free of religious indoctrination. He held out an olive branch and invited and encouraged people to come forward and join a group of people that under his auspices could get help and feel they weren’t alone in their struggle.

While yes, he’s free to end the forum, it is his after all; he’s a deplorable hypocrite for encouraging 1000s to come forward only to have the door slammed in their faces.

He deserves no respect, no support and no fan base. He’s shown by his actions that what he says and preaches isn’t what actually is; in fact, the truth. He’s lied to the community and has (still is) propagating the concept of leaving religion behind and looking to him for support.

He’s no stranger to the forum, he’s aware of what it was doing (and he’s commented about it positively) and how important it was to the atheist community. He let all of that trust and admiration, which we placed in him, fall by the wayside and appears to have no interest in our feelings and concerns whatsoever. Many worked tirelessly for free to further his cause; his treatment of them is nothing short of deplorable. Any man that would do that to a loyal group that worked for free for him deserves no respect at all. I can only assume that he doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘shame’. He has made a mockery of his speeches and his continued insistence that atheists need to leave religion behind and that they have a champion in him.

If anything, he’s now given the X-tian groups a powerful weapon that can be used against him. He’s shown them by his own example, that one of the top leaders in the atheist movement, that denounces X-tains as having neither care nor concerns except for their own well-being, is no better than they are. He has now done irreparable damage to the atheist community. X-tians can now rejoice since they can have a field day knowing that Richard turned his back on 85,000 supporters without even the courtesy of an explanation.

Since it appears that he feels that he owes us nothing, we too, owe him nothing and the last thing he’ll ever get from me is respect and/or support. I will not accept any BS that he writes now or in the future since he has proven that he is not a man of scruples and honour. He is free to do as he pleases, as am I.
If I were given the opportunity to attend one of his public lectures, I’d gladly boo him off the stage and denounce him for what he is, a hypocrite and a man who deserves no respect for his deplorable actions.

You may agree or disagree with me and that’s fine. I don’t owe Richard anything as he owes me nothing. But I can’t in all conscious hold the man on a pedestal, and I will not, ever again, do anything that will see him receive any monetary gains from me.

The least he could have done was to post (even a short message) on the forum and ask for our patience and understanding during the transition to a new style forum. A short note from him would have eased our concerns, and while he is traveling at the moment, he could have put our minds at rest by saying that in the coming weeks, as time permitted, he would explain why he was taking the course of action that he was intent on taking.

He didn’t do that, and that appears to me at least, that he holds our loyalty to him to be meaningless and a waste of his time. By his own inaction he has shown himself to be untrustworthy, and his foundation, forum and web site can cease to exist for all I care.

He called it a Clear-Thinking Oasis, I don’t think so. It was a beacon of his unmitigated hypocrisy.

[Nora_Leonard]

Skinny Puppy, I think you've articulated the anger of many of us.

I just have one thing to add. I don't think it was Richard who fostered that sense of community, it was the forum and the mods and the participants. I don't remember reading a 'Welcome from Richard' message when I joined.

There are too many people who think the forum is a reflection of Richard, it isn't. It's a reflection of that particular forum community.

If you have any doubts, just remember the wonderful community response and empathy on the Depression thread. That, to me, was one of the best examples of the sense of community I got over there. And we can have that here!

[locutus7]

I withhold judgment. Although I understand the sentiment, I would like to know precisely what Richard knows about the situation.

This may be what is called in the military General's Secretary Syndrome. The general's secretary begins to think he/she is in charge, and as a gate-keeper abuses the power, frequently without the general's knowledge.

Frankly, we do not know how Josh spun the changes to RD. So, until we do know more, I'm inclined to wait and see. And blame Josh

[camoguard]

It is annoying to have your community revoked. I can sympathize. I too withhold a final opinion. The internet is a constantly changing place, I didn't expect RDF to be immune.

[Animavore]

Gah. I need to vent. Do any of you have any idea how annoying this is?
I'm quite sure youse do. Coming back to this after a brief 3-day break to find RD.net has gone tits up and Rationalia has now expanded to the point that I now have over 16 pages of new posts compared to the usual 5 or so. It's not nice.

[camoguard]

Gah. I need to vent. Do any of you have any idea how annoying this is?
I'm quite sure youse do. Coming back to this after a brief 3-day break to find RD.net has gone tits up and Rationalia has now expanded to the point that I now have over 16 pages of new posts compared to the usual 5 or so. It's not nice.

Think of all the new people that will be exposed to the Ratz's avatar meme http://rationalia.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... al#p322728. It's not the worst thing that could happen.

[Feck]

Gah. I need to vent. Do any of you have any idea how annoying this is?
I'm quite sure youse do. Coming back to this after a brief 3-day break to find RD.net has gone tits up and Rationalia has now expanded to the point that I now have over 16 pages of new posts compared to the usual 5 or so. It's not nice.

They are still in shock .....most of em aren't even making with the jokes or pictures ..... hardly any puns .... and I don't think any of them have got their kit off yet.


Come on people THIS IS RATZ

[locutus7]

Gah. I need to vent. Do any of you have any idea how annoying this is?
I'm quite sure youse do. Coming back to this after a brief 3-day break to find RD.net has gone tits up and Rationalia has now expanded to the point that I now have over 16 pages of new posts compared to the usual 5 or so. It's not nice.

They are still in shock .....most of em aren't even making with the jokes or pictures ..... hardly any puns .... and I don't think any of them have got their kit off yet.


Come on people THIS IS RATZ

You mean humor is actually permitted on this forum?

[camoguard]

Yeah, vent and then find something to laugh about.

[Bella Fortuna]

Gah. I need to vent. Do any of you have any idea how annoying this is?
I'm quite sure youse do. Coming back to this after a brief 3-day break to find RD.net has gone tits up and Rationalia has now expanded to the point that I now have over 16 pages of new posts compared to the usual 5 or so. It's not nice.

They are still in shock .....most of em aren't even making with the jokes or pictures ..... hardly any puns .... and I don't think any of them have got their kit off yet.


Come on people THIS IS RATZ

Well... maybe many are looking at this as a holding cell and not a home.

But... if anyone wants to learn more about the history here and wants to add their own uniqueness to our little tetched family, then

[Babel]

I already owe the guy with the unpronounceable name a bunch of cheese as it is. My first shipment was hijacked by his so-called proxy.

[maiforpeace]

I already owe the guy with the unpronounceable name a bunch of cheese as it is. My first shipment was hijacked by his so-called proxy.

And ze must not forget dat ze cheese remains with me!

[Heresiarch]

But... if anyone wants to learn more about the history here and wants to add their own uniqueness to our little tetched family, then

[hackenslash]

Well... maybe many are looking at this as a holding cell and not a home.

I've said as much elsewhere. I don't think that Ratz could sustain this level of membership and retain its character. While I have been a member for some time, I still see this as a sort of staging post, while we gather our forces and our thoughts and work out what to do next. I hadn't thought much beyond just getting the word out so that people would have somewhere to congregate, but some thought will have to be given to that before much longer. Still, it's early days yet, and maybe something can be done. I'm still hopeful, especially with the stellar efforts of others with regard to gathering the content of RDF, that the forum can be migrated to another platform elsewhere and continue in one form or another.

But... if anyone wants to learn more about the history here and wants to add their own uniqueness to our little tetched family, then

Indeed.

[paceetrate]

I've said as much elsewhere. I don't think that Ratz could sustain this level of membership and retain its character. While I have been a member for some time, I still see this as a sort of staging post, while we gather our forces and our thoughts and work out what to do next. I hadn't thought much beyond just getting the word out so that people would have somewhere to congregate, but some thought will have to be given to that before much longer. Still, it's early days yet, and maybe something can be done. I'm still hopeful, especially with the stellar efforts of others with regard to gathering the content of RDF, that the forum can be migrated to another platform elsewhere and continue in one form or another.

If you folks decide to open a new forum, I offer what time and skills I have as a graphic designer to make it look awesome.