Richard Dawkins is not afraid to be a controversial figure, including when it comes to free speech on campus.
In an interview with The Australian, he suggested that students who silence others are “less intelligent.”
Dawkins is a huge fan of the internet. “It is like a huge encyclopaedia where you can instantly look things up,” he said, which “tyrannies all over the world must really dread.” The interview then turns to the contrasting tone of the campus culture.
“There seems to be a tendency among some students — perhaps the less intelligent — to suppress free speech. I hope it doesn’t last long,” he said.
Those “speaker bans” have been an issue on campus, including at Virginia Tech, where black conservative Jason L. Riley was disinvited because of the possibility of protests for his views on race. President Obama has spoken out against denying speakers a platform, though that’s about all he’s done.
Dawkins’ comments are likely to raise eyebrows from those students he mentions. If students wish to be so sheltered as to not hear from certain speakers, or wish to be protected from certain views in their “safe spaces,” they are missing out on educating themselves when it comes to views which they fear so much, but often have something to learn from.
Race was another topic, with Dawkins criticizing those who regard Islam as a race. He calls it an “absurd double standard” that Westerners would be more nervous to criticize Islam than Christianity.
“People are terrified of being thought racist. There’s an awful confusion in many people’s minds. They think Islam is a race, which of course it isn’t. If you’re seen to criticise Islam you are often accused of racism, which is absurd,” Dawkins said.
A recent event at MIT not only equated Islamophobia with global warming, but with racism, calling it “the dominant form of racism today.”
