Scientist, atheist and bestselling author Richard Dawkins has caused an outcry after tweeting that rape can involve varying degrees of severity.
The author of "The God Delusion" wrote, "Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse."
Then he added: "If you think that's an endorsement of date rape, go away and learn how to think."
Dawkins had not intended to initiate a debate on sex crimes, but was trying to provide examples of "syllogisms," or logical arguments where comparisons do not imply an endorsement of either.
Another example was, "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."
Nonetheless, Dawkins' rape comments brought wide condemnation.
Independent columnist Sian Norris claimed Dawkins was simply supporting an enduring "rape myth" about rape by a partner being less violent than rape by a stranger, which simply was not true. Such thinking was dangerous, Norris argued, because it represented a victim-blaming culture that refused to go away.
"As a society, we still struggle with the idea that a woman or girl is not at least partially responsible for the violence committed against her," Norris wrote.
"And once we have started blaming the victim, once we have started saying she should take responsibility because she flirted with/kissed/married him, then we minimize the violence of the rapist.
"What Dawkins needs to realize is that, in his exploration of logical argument, there is one group of people who will have listened appreciatively to his words.
"They will have heard the description of date rape as ‘mild,' and they will have gone away feeling reassured that the crime they committed wasn't that bad, wasn't that violent, was only ‘mild'. And those people are rapists."
The author of "The God Delusion" wrote, "Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse."
Then he added: "If you think that's an endorsement of date rape, go away and learn how to think."
Dawkins had not intended to initiate a debate on sex crimes, but was trying to provide examples of "syllogisms," or logical arguments where comparisons do not imply an endorsement of either.
Another example was, "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."
Nonetheless, Dawkins' rape comments brought wide condemnation.
Independent columnist Sian Norris claimed Dawkins was simply supporting an enduring "rape myth" about rape by a partner being less violent than rape by a stranger, which simply was not true. Such thinking was dangerous, Norris argued, because it represented a victim-blaming culture that refused to go away.
"As a society, we still struggle with the idea that a woman or girl is not at least partially responsible for the violence committed against her," Norris wrote.
"And once we have started blaming the victim, once we have started saying she should take responsibility because she flirted with/kissed/married him, then we minimize the violence of the rapist.
"What Dawkins needs to realize is that, in his exploration of logical argument, there is one group of people who will have listened appreciatively to his words.
"They will have heard the description of date rape as ‘mild,' and they will have gone away feeling reassured that the crime they committed wasn't that bad, wasn't that violent, was only ‘mild'. And those people are rapists."
