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Richard Dawkins Tears Into The Sun Over Jeremy Corbyn Coverage

By Chris Hearn
Published on: 06:58 PST, Nov 10, 2015

Richard Dawkins always has something to say, and his latest target is the Sun newspaper in the U.K. over a headline about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

So, what exactly got Richard Dawkins upset? The Independent reports that the right-leaning, Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun took exception to how they perceived Jeremy Corbyn acted at a Remembrance Day ceremony, and offered a scathing front page and articles within to mark their discontent. Apparently, they felt that as opposed to bowing at the Cenotaph, he merely nodded while laying a wreath, inspiring the headline ‘Nod In My Name’.

And it didn’t end there, with the paper running a full spread inside titled ‘Bow Your Head In Shame’ (in which the author states that “The pacifist Labour leader was accused of being ‘an embarrassment’ after only dipping his head when placing his wreath of red poppies”), and an editorial called “War And Peacenik.”

richard dawkins jeremy corbyn
Need an opinion? Don’t worry, Richard Dawkins has one! [Photo by Don Arnold / Getty Images]

A Corbyn scorned is Dawkins fury. Richard Dawkins returned fire against the Sun with a scathing blast of his own via one of his favourite social media platforms, Twitter.

In another tweet, which has been deleted, Richard Dawkins even tore into readers of the Sun, saying the tabloid is read by people who can barely read at all.

Dawkins has expressed opinions about criticism of Corbyn in the past, according to the Independent.

“We may not like Jeremy Corbyn. But dislike is no excuse for telling lies about what a man says. If the truth damns him, isn’t that enough?”

Richard Dawkins’ anger seemed well placed, because in this case, critics argue that lines were definitely blurred by the Sun. While the Sun roasted Corbyn for his nod, they failed to acknowledge that, according to another article by the Independent, he stayed behind after the Remembrance Day ceremonies to talk with WWII veterans, according to Tim Brown, a Labour Cabinet member who tweeted a picture of Corbyn hanging out with veterans.

But, Dawkins’ scorn hasn’t just been focused on Murdoch media matters as of late. He has also been speaking out against the recent controversy at Yale, where students are in an uproar over Halloween costumes (although other racial tensions are also contributing to the anger) and a video showing an upset student berating a professor over an email that encouraged Yale students to handle the issue of offensive costumes as mature adults.

Richard Dawkins, an out and proud atheist who is no stranger to controversy, often speaks on issues related to freedom of speech, and has backed his peers who have faced the scorn of students who have called for their ban from speaking, including atheist and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose speech at Brandeis University was cancelled, and Muslim feminist Maryam Namazie, who was barred from speaking at Warwick University. Dawkins also took up the recent case of Macer Gifford, who fought with Syrian Kurds against ISIS but was barred from a speaking engagement at the University College London because, according to the activities and events officer of the school’s student union stated, “in every conflict there are two sides, and at [University College London] we want to avoid taking sides in conflicts.”

And, in between scathing tweets, Richard Dawkins managed to release a new memoir, his second, called ‘Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science’. Whether people like it or not, one thing is for sure – this is not the last anyone will hear from the ever opinionated Richard Dawkins.

[Image by Don Arnold / Getty Images]

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