Richard Dawkins

=== Political views ===
{{further|Political views of Richard Dawkins}}

[[File:Ariane Sherine and Richard Dawkins at the Atheist Bus Campaign launch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|With [[Ariane Sherine]] at the [[Atheist Bus Campaign]] launch in London, January 2009]]

Dawkins is an outspoken [[atheism|atheist]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Bass |first=Thomas A. |title=Reinventing the future: Conversations with the World's Leading Scientists |url=https://archive.org/details/reinventingfutur00bass |url-access=registration |year=1994 |publisher=Addison Wesley |isbn=978-0-201-62642-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/reinventingfutur00bass/page/118 118] }} [https://books.google.com/books?id=yRZYc-LPz1oC&pg=PA118 Extract of page 118] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523013314/https://books.google.com/books?id=yRZYc-LPz1oC&hl=en&pg=PA118 |date=23 May 2020 }}</ref> and a supporter of various atheist, secular,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=National Secular Society |url=http://www.secularism.org.uk/honoraryassociates.html |title=Our Honorary Associates |year=2005 |access-date=21 April 2007 |archive-date=9 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709124141/http://www.secularism.org.uk/honoraryassociates.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.secular.org/bios/Richard_Dawkins.html |title=Secular Coalition for America Advisory Board Biography |publisher=Secular.org |access-date=29 July 2010 |archive-date=31 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331152929/http://secular.org/bios/Richard_Dawkins.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[secular humanism|humanist organisations]],<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Humanist Society of Scotland |url=http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/about-us/the-hss-today.html |title=The HSS Today |year=2007 |access-date=3 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418122008/http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/about-us/the-hss-today.html |archive-date=18 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258 |title=The International Academy Of Humanism&nbsp;– Humanist Laureates |access-date=7 April 2008 |publisher=[[Council for Secular Humanism]] |archive-date=30 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330192331/https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csicop.org/about/fellows.html |title=The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry&nbsp;– Fellows |access-date=7 April 2008 |publisher=[[The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615215501/http://www.csicop.org/about/fellows.html |archive-date=15 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |title=Humanism and Its Aspirations&nbsp; – Notable Signers |access-date=9 February 2010 |publisher=[[American Humanist Association]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619130831/http://americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |archive-date=19 June 2010}}</ref> including [[Humanists UK]] and the [[Brights movement]].<ref name="militant">{{cite web |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html |title=Richard Dawkins on militant atheism |date=February 2002 |access-date=14 December 2011 |publisher=TED Conferences, LLC |archive-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211194007/http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Dawkins suggests that atheists should be proud, not apologetic, stressing that atheism is evidence of a healthy, independent mind.{{sfn|Dawkins|2006|p=3}} He hopes that the more atheists identify themselves, the more the public will become aware of just how many people are nonbelievers, thereby reducing the negative opinion of atheism among the religious majority.<ref name="suntimes">{{cite news |last=Chittenden |first=Maurice |author2=Waite, Roger |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3087486.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517000447/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3087486.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2008 |title=Dawkins to preach atheism to US |access-date=1 April 2008 |date=23 December 2007 |work=The Sunday Times |location=London}}</ref> Inspired by the [[Gay Liberation|gay rights movement]], he endorsed the [[Out Campaign]] to encourage atheists worldwide to declare their stance publicly.<ref name="rd-out-annouce">{{cite web |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,1471,The-Out-Campaign,Richard-Dawkins |title=The Out Campaign |access-date=1 April 2008 |date=30 July 2007 |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |publisher=Richard Dawkins Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430213003/http://richarddawkins.net/article,1471,The-Out-Campaign,Richard-Dawkins |archive-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He supported a UK atheist advertising initiative, the [[Atheist Bus Campaign]] in 2008 and 2009, which aimed to raise funds to place atheist advertisements on buses in the London area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.humanism.org.uk/bus-campaign |title=The Bus Campaign |publisher=[[British Humanist Association]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220154544/http://www.humanism.org.uk/bus-campaign|archive-date=20 February 2012|url-status=dead |access-date=19 January 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Richard Dawkin Kepler Talk.jpg|thumb|upright|Speaking at [[Kepler's Books]], [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], [[California]], 29 October 2006]]

Dawkins has expressed concern about the growth of the human population and about the matter of [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC: The Selfish Green |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,829,The-Selfish-Green,Jonathan-Dimbleby-David-Attenborough-Richard-Dawkins-Jane-Goodall-Richard-Leakey |publisher=Richard Dawkins Foundation |date=2 April 2007 |access-date=22 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501094048/http://richarddawkins.net/article,829,The-Selfish-Green,Jonathan-Dimbleby-David-Attenborough-Richard-Dawkins-Jane-Goodall-Richard-Leakey |archive-date=1 May 2008 |url-status=dead}} For video in one segment, see {{YouTube | g5WUIDzxUeo }}</ref> In ''The Selfish Gene'', he briefly mentions population growth, giving the example of [[Latin America]], whose population, at the time the book was written, was doubling every 40&nbsp;years. He is critical of [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] attitudes to [[family planning]] and [[population control]], stating that leaders who forbid [[birth control|contraception]] and "express a preference for 'natural' methods of population limitation" will get just such a method in the form of [[starvation]].{{sfn|Dawkins|1989|p=213}}

As a supporter of the [[Great Ape Project]]—a movement to extend certain moral and legal [[rights]] to all [[Hominidae|great apes]]—Dawkins contributed the article 'Gaps in the Mind' to the ''Great Ape Project'' book edited by [[Paola Cavalieri]] and [[Peter Singer]]. In this essay, he criticises contemporary society's moral attitudes as being based on a "discontinuous, [[speciesism|speciesist]] imperative".<ref>{{cite book | editor-first1= Paola | editor-last1= Cavalieri | editor-first2= Peter | editor-last2= Singer |title=The Great Ape Project |year=1993 |publisher=Fourth Estate |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-0-312-11818-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/greatapeprojecte00cava}}</ref>

Dawkins also regularly comments in newspapers and [[blog]]s on contemporary political questions and is a frequent contributor to the online science and culture digest ''[[3 Quarks Daily]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2010/06/the-winners-of-the-3-quarks-daily-2010-prize-in-science.html |title=3 Quarks Daily 2010 Prize in Science: Richard Dawkins has picked the three winners |date=1 June 2010 |access-date=20 January 2016 |archive-date=28 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128072740/http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2010/06/the-winners-of-the-3-quarks-daily-2010-prize-in-science.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His opinions include opposition to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |title=Bin Laden's victory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/22/iraq.usa |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=22 March 2003 |access-date=15 March 2008 |archive-date=5 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505210246/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/22/iraq.usa |url-status=live |ref=none}}</ref> the [[Trident nuclear programme|British nuclear deterrent]], the actions of then-US President [[George W. Bush]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |title=While we have your attention, Mr President... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/18/usa.politics1 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=18 November 2003 |access-date=16 March 2008 |archive-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802213236/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/18/usa.politics1 |url-status=live |ref=none}}</ref> and the ethics of [[designer babies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/from-the-afterword-1.836155 |title=From the Afterword |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |work=Herald Scotland |date=19 November 2006 |access-date=9 June 2014 |archive-date=10 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510235345/http://www.heraldscotland.com/from-the-afterword-1.836155 |url-status=live |ref=none}}</ref> Several such articles were included in ''[[A Devil's Chaplain]]'', an anthology of writings about science, religion, and politics. He is also a supporter of [[Republic (political organisation)|Republic]]'s campaign to replace the [[British monarchy]] with a type of democratic [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|republic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.republic.org.uk/Who%20we%20are/Our%20Supporters%20Include/index.php |title=Our supporters |publisher=Republic |date=24 April 2010 |access-date=29 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326212133/http://www.republic.org.uk/Who%20we%20are/Our%20Supporters%20Include/index.php |archive-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Dawkins has described himself as a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] voter in the 1970s{{sfn|Dawkins|1989|loc=Endnotes. Chapter 1. Why are people?}} and voter for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] since the party's creation. In 2009, he spoke at the party's conference in opposition to blasphemy laws, alternative medicine, and faith schools. In the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|UK general election of 2010]], Dawkins officially endorsed the Liberal Democrats, in support of their campaign for electoral reform and for their "refusal to pander to 'faith{{' "}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libdems.org.uk/latest_news_detail.aspx |title=Show your support – vote for the Liberal Democrats on May&nbsp;6th |date=3 May 2010 |publisher=Libdems.org.uk |access-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414004332/http://www.libdems.org.uk/latest_news_detail.aspx |archive-date=14 April 2010}}</ref> In the run up to the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], Dawkins once again endorsed the Liberal Democrats and urged voters to join the party.

[[File:Richard Dawkins on free speech and Islam(ism).webm|thumb|Dawkins discusses free speech and Islam(ism) at the 2017 Conference on Free Expression and Conscience.]]
In April 2021, Dawkins said on Twitter that "In 2015, [[Rachel Dolezal]], a white chapter president of NAACP, was vilified for identifying as Black. Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men. You will be vilified if you deny that they literally are what they identify as. Discuss." After receiving criticism for this tweet, Dawkins responded by saying that "I do not intend to disparage trans people. I see that my academic "Discuss" question has been misconstrued as such and I deplore this. It was also not my intent to ally in any way with Republican bigots in US now exploiting this issue."<ref name="Flood-2021" /> The [[American Humanist Association]] retracted Dawkins' 1996 Humanist of the Year Award in response to these comments.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 April 2021 |title=American Humanist Association Board Statement Withdrawing Honor from Richard Dawkins |url=https://americanhumanist.org/news/american-humanist-association-board-statement-withdrawing-honor-from-richard-dawkins/ |access-date=14 March 2023 |website=American Humanist Association |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Robby Soave]] of [[Reason (magazine)|''Reason'' magazine]] criticized the retraction, saying that "The drive to punish dissenters from various orthodoxies is itself illiberal."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soave |first=Robby |date=26 April 2021 |title=By Canceling Richard Dawkins, the American Humanist Association Has Betrayed Its Values |url=https://reason.com/2021/04/26/by-canceling-richard-dawkins-the-american-humanist-association-has-betrayed-its-values/ |access-date=11 August 2023 |website=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Dawkins has voiced his support for the [[Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly]], an organisation that campaigns for democratic reform in the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/page/2/?mapcountry=allpro&mapgroup=pro |title=Overview |work=Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly |access-date=9 October 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=8 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808234235/https://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/page/2/?mapcountry=allpro&mapgroup=pro |url-status=live }}</ref>

Dawkins identifies as a feminist.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/richarddawkins/status/280427716010983424 |title=Richard Dawkins |date=16 December 2012 |access-date=3 May 2015 |website=Twitter |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904014126/https://twitter.com/richarddawkins/status/280427716010983424 |url-status=live }}</ref> He has said that feminism is "enormously important".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/2014/12/08/richard_dawkins_is_there_a_mens_rights_movement/ |title=Richard Dawkins: "Is There a Men's Rights Movement?" |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |last=Kutner |first=Jenny |date=8 December 2014 |access-date=1 February 2015 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217192227/http://www.salon.com/2014/12/08/richard_dawkins_is_there_a_mens_rights_movement/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Dawkins has been accused by writers such as [[Amanda Marcotte]], Caitlin Dickson, and Adam Lee of [[misogyny]], criticizing those who speak about sexual harassment and abuse while ignoring sexism within the [[New Atheism#Criticisms|New Atheist movement]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.salon.com/2014/10/03/new_atheisms_troubling_misogyny_the_pompous_sexism_of_richard_dawkins_and_sam_harris_partner/ | title=Atheism's shocking woman problem: What's behind the misogyny of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris? | date=3 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/richard-dawkins-sexist-atheists-bad-name | title=Richard Dawkins has lost it: Ignorant sexism gives atheists a bad name | newspaper=The Guardian | date=18 September 2014 | last1=Lee | first1=Adam }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/richard-dawkins-draws-feminist-wrath-over-sexual-harassment-comments/352530/ | title=Richard Dawkins Gets into a Comments War with Feminists | website=[[The Atlantic]] | date=6 July 2011 }}</ref>