15 Of Richard Dawkins' Most Controversial Tweets

His posts about Ahmed Mohamed are just the latest in a long series of provocative online comments.
Richard Dawkins, famed biologist and outspoken atheist, has a reputation for debating with his opponents.
Richard Dawkins, famed biologist and outspoken atheist, has a reputation for debating with his opponents.
Don Arnold via Getty Images

For better or worse, Richard Dawkins simply isn't one to bite his tongue.

On Sunday, the outspoken evolutionary biologist and best-selling author took to Twitter to suggest that Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teen who was arrested last week after showing up at school with a clock some teachers thought looked like a homemade bomb, may have committed a "fraud" by wrongfully taking credit for building the clock.

Dawkins also suggested Ahmed might have wanted police to arrest him, though he said he believed the teen shouldn't have been taken into custody.

As you might imagine, the tweets sparked a spirited conversation on the social media platform. Several people praised Dawkins, with one Twitter user saying, "someone gets it." Others derided him as a "conspiracy theorist" and a "Twitter crank" -- reminiscent of Salon recently referring to him as a "sour crank."

Whether the 74-year-old Englishman is a crank or a fearless opponent of political correctness is, of course, a matter of opinion. But there's no denying he's no stranger to stirring up controversy online.

Scroll down for a sampling of Dawkins' controversial tweets on topics ranging from date rape and abortion to Islam.

Story continues after tweets.

Abortion

@RichardDawkins @AidanMcCourt I honestly don't know what I would do if I were pregnant with a kid with Down Syndrome. Real ethical dilemma.

— InYourFaceNewYorker (@InYourFaceNYer) August 20, 2014

@InYourFaceNYer Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 20, 2014

Rape

Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse. If you think that's an endorsement of date rape, go away and learn how to think.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 29, 2014

.@mrgregariously Exactly. If you want to drive, don't get drunk. If you want to be in a position to testify & jail a man, don't get drunk.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 13, 2014

.@st3reo1som3r Of course that's your right. But don't expect a jury to take your word against his if you can't remember what happened.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 13, 2014

Pedophilia

Mild pedophilia is bad. Violent pedophilia is worse. If you think that's an endorsement of mild pedophilia, go away and learn how to think.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 29, 2014

Creationists

Islam

All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 8, 2013

Of course you can have an opinion about Islam without having read Qur'an. You don't have to read Mein Kampf to have an opinion about nazism.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 25, 2013

Suggest always put Islamic "scholar" in quotes, to avoid insulting true scholars. True scholars have read more than one book.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 25, 2014

Of COURSE most Muslims are peaceful. But if someone's killed for what they drew or said or wrote, you KNOW the religion of the killers.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) January 7, 2015

Are you a woman bored with life in UK? Start a new life in our Caliphate as a SLAVE. If you change your mind, you can have a free beheading

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 6, 2015

It's been suggested that, if Muhammad were alive today, he would be a member of ISIS. Interesting to hear Islamic scholars' take on this.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) April 1, 2015

If his tweets seem to target certain groups -- well, it seems as if Dawkins, too, sees himself as belonging to a group that is something of a target.

Lost an argument? Don't worry, just accuse your opponent of being old, white and privileged. That's the ticket.

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) May 23, 2014

Certainly, these represent just a tiny slice of Dawkins' tweets, which now number more than 27,000. Dawkins seems quick to engage those who respond to him online, whether they're agreeing or issuing an attack, and he's not above owning up to his own mistakes.

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