Due to his chronic high blood pressure, Richard Dawkins has been repeatedly warned by his doctors to avoid controversies.[1][2][3]
The new atheist Richard Dawkins has a reputation for being an angry, aggressive and abrasive man (see: Richard Dawkins and anger and Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins).
According to Glenn Gandelman, MD, "A recent study indicates that angry men have higher blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease.[4] PubMed has numerous studies relating to anger and high blood pressure.[5][6]
Despite the medical advice of his doctors, Dawkins had a very active Twitter presence before his minor stroke (with a number of Twitter controversies) and numerous public controversies (see: Richard Dawkins and women and Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations).[7]
Dawkins has accumulated over 30,000 Twitter tweets.[8] The Independent reported, "Dawkins also admitted he wasn't very good at managing Twitter and the strong reactions his posts tend to provoke. 'Twitter is very difficult medium to handle,' he said. 'I’m not much of a diplomat.'"[9] However, after his stroke, in May 2016, Dawkins gave up posting on Twitter for a while and the tweets that appeared in his name were done by his staff.[10] See: Richard Dawkins and Twitter
In 2013, Martin Robbins wrote in the New Statesman concerning the public persona of Dawkins: "Increasingly though, his public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance..."[11]
As a result of the controversy relating to a Dawkins Twitter post about feminism/Islam, Dawkins was disinvited to speak at the 2016 Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NCSS) (See: Feminists cause Richard Dawkins to be disinvited to skeptic conference).[12] Stephanie Zvan is an atheist blogger at Freethought Blogs. She wrote an open letter to the Center for Inquiry (CFI) about the events surrounding the Dawkins' Twitter post about feminism/Islam that "CFI now has a harassment denialist on its board, a harassment denialist who has tied his denialism to his work at your organization."[13]
Dawkins said he was very upset about being disinvited to the conference.[12] After his disinvitation, Dawkins gave some news about his health condition after suffering a minor stroke and he mentioned that his doctors advised avoiding controversies due to his chronic high blood pressure.[14] In recent times Dawkins has been embroiled in a number of controversies involving the topics of feminism/Islam and he has faced a significant amount of criticism from his fellow skeptics/liberals (see: Richard Dawkins and women and Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations).
Atheist Hemant Mehta reported about Dawkins' stroke and Dawkins' report that he had been once again invited to the conference:
| “ | It was the result of stress-related higher blood pressure, which he says he may have had as a result of recent controversy, including being booted from the NECSS conference. He added, however, that on February 5, he received a letter from conference organizers apologizing for disinviting him and asking him back to the conference.[15] | ” |
In December 2016, Dawkins appears to have started to Tweet again despite his doctors warnings to avoid controversy (For example, he tweeted that Britain had become a "nasty little backwater" after the Brexit vote and his Tweet drew fierce criticism).[16][17][18]
Richard Dawkins on veganism
Richard Dawkins' stroke and news reports
April 6th, 2016 update on Richard Dawkin's health from his website
News reports about Richard Dawkins' health and events surrounding his stroke
- Richard Dawkins Said He Was Stressed by Controversy Over Tweet Before Stroke, Christian Post, February, 2016
- Professor Dawkins on recovering from a mild stroke - BBC, May 24, 2016
- Richard Dawkins Gives Update on His Health in Audio Message by Hemant Mehta, February 14, 2016
- Dawkins’ health keeps him from Reason Rally, Religion News Service, March 2016
Richard Dawkins' stroke and Christians praying for his recovery
- Richard Dawkins' stroke prompts Twitter debate on praying for him, Christianity Today
- Atheist Richard Dawkins Stroke Has Christians Praying For Health, Update: Death Unlikely, Inquisitor, 2016
- The Church of England is absolutely right to pray for Richard Dawkins by Peter Ormerod, The Guardian
- Church of England: Our Prayers for Richard Dawkins Are Sincere, Not 'Trolling', Christian Post, 2016
Richard Dawkins' website on faith healing. Bible believing Christianity and prayer experiment
See also: Studies on prayer and Argument from religious experience
Dawkins' website published an article against faith healing on his website written by the atheist Jerry Coyne.[19]
Bible believing Christianity and prayer experiment
The Christian Post reporter Stoyan Zaimov wrote:
| “ | Double-blind prayer experiments: where people pray for others with terminal illness. Habermas admitted that most such experiments have not worked, but the three that he knows of that have indeed worked were cases of orthodox-Christians praying for the sick.[20] | ” |
Gary Habermas has also discussed documentations of miracle claims and referred to thousands of cases around the world of documented miracles, including those where medical doctors witness prayer healing people with severe physical disabilities.[21]
Richard Dawkins, Darwin and psychogenic illness
Secular leftists and psychogenic illness
See also
Notes
- ↑ An update on Richard’s condition in his own words, Richarddawkins.net
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Said He Was Stressed by Controversy Over Tweet Before Stroke, Christian Post, February, 2016
- ↑ Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
- ↑ Anger, Stress and High Blood Pressure, Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH
- ↑ PubMed - Anger and hypertension
- ↑ PubMed: Anger and high blood pressure
- ↑
- Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
- The 12-Stage 'Evolution' Of A Richard Dawkins Twitter Scandal by Paul Vale, The Huffington Post UK, Posted: 22/08/2014 02:06 BST
- Richard Dawkins, delete your account: The prominent atheist implodes on Twitter (again), Salon
- 15 Of Richard Dawkins' Most Controversial Tweets, Huffington Post
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Twitter
- ↑ Richard Dawkins defends Ahmed Mohamed comments and dismisses Islamophobia as a 'non-word'
- ↑ Dawkins: I’ve Given Up Twitter.
- ↑ Atheism is maturing, and it will leave Richard Dawkins behind
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 An update on Richard Dawkins condition in his own words
- ↑ Dawkins Goes Denialist: An Open Letter to the CFI Board by Stephanie Zvan at Freethought Blogs
- ↑
- An update on Richard’s condition in his own words, Richarddawkins.net
- Richard Dawkins Said He Was Stressed by Controversy Over Tweet Before Stroke, Christian Post, February, 2016
- Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Gives Update on His Health in Audio Message
- ↑ Richard Dawkins: England becoming a 'nasty little backwater' after Brexit vote, The Telegraph, March 2017
- ↑ SHOCK RANT: Richard Dawkins mocks Christians for 'pretending' there's WAR on Christianity, Express, December of 2016
- ↑ What British Scientist Dawkins Thinks Of Islam, Swaraya, June 7, 2017
- ↑ [Faith Healing Kills Children] by Jerry Coyne
- ↑ Christian Apologist: 10 Reasons for the Fall of Atheism by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post, October 14, 2013
- ↑ Christian Apologist: 10 Reasons for the Fall of Atheism By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter