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| In an artist's conception, a Higgs boson erupts from a collision of protons. (Source: National Geographic) |
This will be a blow to those who think Dawkins is right about everything, and that science always trumps religion.
Peter Higgs, the particle physicist who postulated the existence of the Higgs Boson, the so called ‘God particle’ has criticized Richard Dawkins as an embarrassment for his fundamentalist attacks on religion:
“What Dawkins does too often is to concentrate his attack on fundamentalists. But there are many believers who are just not fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is another problem. I mean, Dawkins in a way is almost a fundamentalist himself, of another kind.
He agreed with some of Dawkins’ thoughts on the unfortunate consequences that have resulted from religious belief, but he was unhappy with the evolutionary biologist’s approach to dealing with believers and said he agreed with those who found Dawkins’ approach “embarrassing”.
In the El Mundo interview, Higgs argued that although he was not a believer, he thought science and religion were not incompatible. “The growth of our understanding of the world through science weakens some of the motivation which makes people believers. But that’s not the same thing as saying they’re incompatible. It’s just that I think some of the traditional reasons for belief, going back thousands of years, are rather undermined.
“But that doesn’t end the whole thing. Anybody who is a convinced but not a dogmatic believer can continue to hold his belief. It means I think you have to be rather more careful about the whole debate between science and religion than some people have been in the past.”
He said a lot of scientists in his field were religious believers. “I don’t happen to be one myself, but maybe that’s just more a matter of my family background than that there’s any fundamental difficulty about reconciling the two.”
Dawkins did not respond to a request to comment directly on Higgs’s “fundamentalist” charge.
Here's an example of Richard Dawkins in action, where he says it's worse to raise a child Catholic where they believe in Hell, than it is for that child to be sexually abused by a priest.
Hattip: Protect the Pope
Related links: Peter Higgs criticises Richard Dawkins over anti-religious 'fundamentalism' ~ The Guardian
"God Particle" Found? "Historic Milestone" From Higgs Boson Hunters ~ National Geographic