Apostle for atheism speaks his mind

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - Success has not made Richard Dawkins any easier to interview.

The prickly Oxford biologist, whose bestselling atheist manifesto "The God Delusion" has become a global publishing phenomenon, answers the first question with a question.

"Why do you think a book by a British scientist on atheism has become so popular?" asks this reporter, in what is intended as a softball question to open a chat.

"I don't know why. Maybe it's a well written book. Did you consider that possibility?"

Ouch.

But it is precisely that constant combativeness that has made Dawkins a hero to his admirers and an object of outrage for his opponents around the world. An expert in Darwinian evolution, Dawkins doesn't just want to explain why he doesn't believe in God. He wants to pick fights and change minds.

"If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists by the time they put it down," he writes in his preface.

The existence of God, he argues, is a legitimate question for scientists, and the evidence doesn't add up.