Richard Dawkins!

[MindlessAutomata]

I like Dawkins.  But I don't think Dawkins is into 'converting' people to atheism.  He is far to harsh on the sensitive mind of theist.

I mean, would you listen to someone who is teaching you that you are wrong and insults you at the same time?  Dawkins atheism is perfect for those that have already started to distance themselves from religion.

I find it sad that Dawkins and other brilliant minds like him have to waste time going back over the misinformation that keeps resurfacing in the public.  I remember listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson on the radio a few nights back on Coast2Coast, and he mentioned that he 'wasted' a few years on Pluto and why it was downgraded to a dwarf planet, and worried about the new 2012 movie that he would have to waste a few more years debunking the information came from that.

Except Dawkins doesn't tend to insult believers.  Can you show me where he does?

The reason believers feel insulted is because Dawkins attacks something believers find core to their persona; they identify with their beliefs as part of who they are, and Dawkins comes in and (truthfully) says it's irrational, there's no basis for it, it's unnecessary, etc.  The believers then take it personally and are angry about it.  Dawkins, I think, knows this, but he is trying to shift discourse so it's more acceptable to attack religion for being what it is openly.

[Tom S. Fox]

I found this strange accusation on tvtropes.org:

The aversion to Dawkins by so many is likely because of the several books' worth of quote-twisting and outright lies he has used to promote his anti-religious crusade. One small example would be his infamous dowdism of a John Adams quote made to sound as if Adams was railing against religion, when in fact the quote, in its entirety, was stating exactly the opposite. Believing that the end justifies the means is a good indicator of unhealthy fundamentalism.

Is there any truth to that?

[MrBogosity]

There is a popular internet quote of John Adams saying, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!" It's a quote mine. Here's the quote in context:

Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!" But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean Hell.

Whether or not Dawkins passed on the misquote I don't know.

[Travis Retriever]

I have a friend who doesn't like Dawkins.  He thinks Dawkins is arrogant.
I don't see it however.

[Lord T Hawkeye]

I haven't seen tons of him but from what I did see, Dawkins did seem reasonable enough.

If I had to call anyone a fundie atheist, it would have to be Christopher Hitchens.  The man has called the war in Iraq "a war to be proud of" and I have suspicions that view is largely due to the fact that it's a war against religious fanatics.  Shameful really...