Oh this will make the angry atheists so very, very sad. Their patron saint has come to the conclusion that he can’t be sure God doesn’t exist, so he deems himself an agnostic rather than an atheist.
He told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, that he preferred to call himself an agnostic rather than an atheist…. There was surprise when Prof Dawkins acknowledged that he was less than 100 per cent certain of his conviction that there is no creator. The philosopher Sir Anthony Kenny, who chaired the discussion, interjected: “Why don’t you call yourself an agnostic?” Prof Dawkins answered that he did. An incredulous Sir Anthony replied: “You are described as the world’s most famous atheist.” Prof Dawkins said that he was “6.9 out of seven” sure of his beliefs. “I think the probability of a supernatural creator existing is very very low,” he added.
Dawkins has grown! He’s left the dogmatic fundamentalism of his former ‘faith’ and embraced his own ignorance. So good for him.
Zwinglius Redivivus 
This is not new. Dawkins has always said he was never 7/7 sure, which a believer can be. After all, Dawkins argues, a believer can feel the existence of God (or a god), while no one can experience the non-existence of something that does not exist. Hence, atheism cannot be founded on experience, and hence Dawkins’ consistent claim that he is only 6.9 out of 7 sure.
Dawkins has, in his books, made serious errors, and some of arguments misrepresent religion; but thus, I think, is a sincere statement, granting that his opponents can have a certainty that Dawkins himself can, logically, not experience.
For once, I refer to Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_of_theistic_probability#Dawkins.27s_formulation for references to Dawkins’ own statement that he can only be a 6.9 out of 7 atheist.
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As we say – it may not be new but it is to me and also to the moderator.
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Pingback: Like Dawkins, I am Agnostic about GodAlmighty… « A 'Goula Blogger
Just goes to prove that many of Dawkins’ critics – including the Archbiship of Canterbury – haven’t bothered to actually engage with his thinking on the most basic level… by reading his books. As Jona says, he’s been very consistent in denying 100% certainty to the non-existence of gods.
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