Richard Dawkins holds several titles but he is mostly known for her ‘anti-christian’ approach. The theist once called religion a virus and went on to explain how it destroys and spreads as such. Dawkins is also a professor and biologist at Oxford University and a published author of several hate-filled books.
Dawkins recently found himself the target of some well-deserved backlash after he told a woman on Twitter that if she were pregnant with a baby who tested positive with Downs Syndrome that she was under a moral obligation to abort. He later explained that ‘Down Syndrome increase suffering in the world’— a completely unfounded and baseless claim as on radio host forced Dawkins to admit.
@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
British radio host Brendan O’Connor, a father to a son with Downs Syndrom, shredded Dawkins’ argument and embarrassed the man, on air:
“You are speaking to someone who did bring someone like that into the world,” O’Connor said. “I would accept that fact and I wouldn’t judge anyone’s choice about that, but why is it immoral not to abort it?”
In response, Dawkins said people with Down Syndrome increase suffering in the world.
“Well that was probably putting it a bit too strongly, but given that the amount of suffering in the world probably does not go down, probably does go up, compared to having another child who doesn’t have Down Syndrome,” Dawkins said.
O’Connor shot back, “How do you know that it increases the amount of suffering in the world to bring in a child with Down’s Syndrome?”
“I don’t know it for certain. It seems to me to be plausible,” Dawkins responded. “You probably would increase the amount of happiness in the world more by having another child instead.”
Then, O’Connor forced Dawkins to admit he has no scientific evidence to back his claims.
“But you have no reason for knowing that?” O’Connor asked.
“I have no direct evidence, no— it just seems plausible,” Dawkins admitted.
O’Connor responded, “Just, you know, you’re such a scientific, logical person that I thought that you could possibly have some logical backup to it.”
Later, Dawkins admitted that he does not know anyone with Down Syndrome, and when O’Connor asked Dawkins if it would be “immoral for (moms-to-be) not to” abort a baby with Down Syndrome, Dawkins attempted to shift the entire discussion.
“Let’s leave out the immoral,” Dawkins said.
O’Connor shot back, “No, but you brought immoral into it.”
“OK, well I take that back,” Dawkins admitted. “I think it would be wise and sensible.”
Toward the end of the discussion, O’Connor sarcastically reminded Dawkins, “You know children who are so-called ‘perfect’ can cause terrible suffering in the world as well, but I suppose we have no way if checking, have we?”
The two end the conversation there but I think O’Connor brought up a brilliant point here. I found that a little disappointing because O’Connor could have really destroyed the professor with violent crime statistics.
LISTEN BELOW:
"How do you think it's immoral to bring a child with Down Syndrome into the world?"@RadioBrendanRTE spoke with Professor Richard Dawkins who believes children with Down Syndrome can potentially increase the amount of suffering in the world.
Listen back: https://t.co/TwLQ9VhSdB pic.twitter.com/B2himKI7kU— RTÉ Radio 1 (@RTERadio1) May 11, 2021
In some weird, bogus, apology Dawkins doubled down on the ‘morality’ of aborting a child with Downs Syndrome, this time adding that “you probably be condemning yourself as a mother (or yourselves as a couple) to a lifetime of caring for an adult with the needs of a child. Your child would probably have a short life expectancy but, if she did outlive you, you would have the worry of who would care for her after you are gone. No wonder most people choose abortion when offered the choice.”
You can read his full ‘apology’ on his site.