Wednesday, January 16, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

Dinesh D'Souza: Winner of the 2007 Bad Faith Award

by New Humanist Magazine

Reposted from:
http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/01/dinesh-dsouza-winner-of-bad-faith-award.html

The publication of our January/February issue saw the coronation of Dinesh D'Souza as 2007's most scurrilous enemy of reason, after he walked away with our prestigious Bad Faith Award having scooped an astonishing 22% of the public vote.

In a field crowded by heavyweights like the Bishop of Carlisle, Chuck Norris and Pope Benedict XVI, D'Souza came from nowhere to seize the award ahead of many of the world's leading bigots, charlatans and proselytisers.

Who is Dinesh D'Souza, and what could he possibly have done to claim 525 votes, compared to runner-up the Pope's meagre 415? Indian-born D'Souza is well known in the US, where his conservative Catholic commentary is tiresomely ubiquitous, particularly his view that the "cultural left" was responsible for 9/11, since it has "fostered a decadent American culture that angers and repulses traditional societies".

His success in the poll is probably related to the publication of his most recent book What's So Great About Christianity – a both-barrels attack on the "New Atheists" – and his frequent denunciation of atheists and liberals. Here's a sample: "The religious tribe is made up of people who have an animating sense of purpose. The secular tribe is made up of people who are not sure why they exist at all. The religious tribe is composed of individuals who view their every thought and action as consequential. The secular tribe is made up of matter that cannot explain why it is able to think at all."

Attention now turns to those individuals who will be looking to wrest the Bad Faith Award from D'Souza's clutches when the 2008 version is presented at the end of this year. We're already inviting readers to make nominations, which you can do by adding a comment to this blog post or emailing us on webcontact@newhumanist.org.uk. Early frontrunners must surely include new England boss Fabio Capello for his outspoken support of Franco and the Pope, and Tom Cruise for his increasingly bizarre cheerleading on behalf of Scientology. We were amazed Cruise wasn't nominated last year, but his latest rant on behalf of the religion must surely catapult him into the running.

In the meantime, all that remains is to extend our congratulations to this year's winner. Well done Dinesh, we will be making a donation of £20 or less to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science on your behalf.

Posted by Paul Sims at Wednesday, January 16, 2008

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1. Comment #112087 by windfall on January 16, 2008 at 9:41 am

Way to go, Dinesh! When is Sam Harris going to put him in his place? Also. are there links to Tom Cruise's rant?

Other Comments by windfall

2. Comment #112094 by Gmork on January 16, 2008 at 10:07 am

Dinesh. You're a funny guy. Congratulations on your life-time achievement.

windfall,

This one?
http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

Other Comments by Gmork

3. Comment #112096 by Animavore on January 16, 2008 at 10:14 am

"The secular tribe is made up of matter that cannot explain why it is able to think at all."

...and religion can?

Other Comments by Animavore

4. Comment #112098 by Peacebeuponme on January 16, 2008 at 10:24 am

Yes! I was hoping he'd win on the basis of his Viginia Tech comments.

I suspect he'll enjoy hearing this a bit too much though.

Other Comments by Peacebeuponme

5. Comment #112100 by BicycleRepairMan on January 16, 2008 at 10:27 am

...and religion can?

Goddidit.

Questions?

Other Comments by BicycleRepairMan

6. Comment #112103 by artificialhabitat on January 16, 2008 at 10:30 am

The religious tribe is made up of people who have an animating sense of purpose

Tribes? He's talking about tribes?

Says it all really.

D'Souza is a prick. But I can't see how he beat some of the others. True, listening to him made me want to stab myself in the neck, but some of the others contibute to the suffering and death of countless people via their contraception/AIDS BS.

Other Comments by artificialhabitat

7. Comment #112105 by bhoytony on January 16, 2008 at 10:33 am

Windfall, the cruise video has been pulled from Youtube

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Church of Scientology International"

It's a copyright matter, nothing to do with it making them look ridiculous.

Other Comments by bhoytony

8. Comment #112108 by stephenray on January 16, 2008 at 10:35 am

Personally, I would have voted for Ann Coulter.

Never mind apes, that woman is evidence that homo sapiens is related to slime.

Other Comments by stephenray

9. Comment #112109 by mikes on January 16, 2008 at 10:37 am

There needs to be a Cruise vs. D'Souza debate.

Other Comments by mikes

10. Comment #112113 by Paula Kirby on January 16, 2008 at 10:51 am

There's a link to the Tom Cruise video via this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7191355.stm

Other Comments by Paula Kirby

11. Comment #112114 by Stephen Maxwell on January 16, 2008 at 10:53 am

"It's a copyright matter, nothing to do with it making them look ridiculous."

I beg to differ.

Other Comments by Stephen Maxwell

12. Comment #112115 by al-rawandi on January 16, 2008 at 10:55 am

Distort D'Newza.

What a tool.

Other Comments by al-rawandi

13. Comment #112120 by RickM on January 16, 2008 at 11:13 am

Damn! I voted for the Pope.

Oh well, what the heck. I'll hop on the bandwagon and shift my support to D'Shit.

Congrats, D'Shit, you jerk.

Other Comments by RickM

14. Comment #112122 by bhoytony on January 16, 2008 at 11:22 am

"I beg to differ."

It's called IRONY

Other Comments by bhoytony

15. Comment #112125 by Michael P. on January 16, 2008 at 11:39 am

SO happy for Denise, I am; truly, I can think of no one more deserving this year.

I suggest everyone go to his current blog posting and convey their best wishes.

http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2008/01/16/debating-michael-shermer-at-cal-tech/

Other Comments by Michael P.

16. Comment #112127 by Corylus on January 16, 2008 at 11:53 am

In the meantime, all that remains is to extend our congratulations to this year's winner. Well done Dinesh, we will be making a donation of £20 or less to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science on your behalf.

What a great idea!

Mr D'Souza (I know that you often read these RDnet threads concerning yourself!) I have just matched this donation. I sold some plastic tat on Ebay recently and my Paypal account is; for once; marvellously in credit.

Accordingly, I have just given RDFRS a donation of £19.99 to express my appreciation of your work. (I would have donated the entire £20, but I wanted RDFRS to be able to keep an easy tally of any donations they receive on your behalf).

Thank you, again, kind sir, for all your hard work in the cause of reason!! :-))

-----------------

For those who missed it first time round D'Souza's comments after the Virginia Tech Shootings

http://richarddawkins.net/article,903,Where-Is-Atheism-When-Bad-Things-Happen,Dinesh-DSouza-Aolcom

And the wonderful measured response of a Virginia Tech Professor to them...

http://richarddawkins.net/article,904,Dinesh-DSouza-says-I-dont-exist-an-atheist-at-Virginia-Tech,Mapantsula-Daily-Kos

Other Comments by Corylus

17. Comment #112128 by Prankster on January 16, 2008 at 11:55 am

Thanks Paula for the link to the Tom Cruise rant about scientology-hilarious

However who do you call when you see a road traffic accident? The emergency services or a scientologist ?

What a dick this guy has turned into-makes me glad to be an atheist in oh so many ways if this is what religion does-no wonder it was pulled from YouTube....what a tosser....

Other Comments by Prankster

18. Comment #112129 by Steven Mading on January 16, 2008 at 11:56 am

It's a copyright matter, nothing to do with it making them look ridiculous.

bhoytoy, Those are not mutually exclusive. The church of scientology uses copyright law as a tool to suppress ridicule. They have a long, well established history of doing this.

Real religions don't copyright their religious texts - they let them spread as far and as cheaply as possible.

Other Comments by Steven Mading

19. Comment #112131 by Geoff on January 16, 2008 at 12:12 pm

I was a little disappointed to see that the BBC article didn't call it a CULT.

Would this be the appropriate place to mention that the CULT of Scientology is a CULT?

Oh, and congrats to Dinesh...

Other Comments by Geoff

20. Comment #112134 by irvine.intervention on January 16, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Confuckulations Dinesh!

Other Comments by irvine.intervention

21. Comment #112145 by konquererz on January 16, 2008 at 12:44 pm

Dinesh is an idiot
Couldn't have gone to a better guy.

Other Comments by konquererz

22. Comment #112152 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 1:18 pm

I would pay to see Cruise Vs Dinesh

Other Comments by Storeo

23. Comment #112159 by bhoytony on January 16, 2008 at 1:31 pm

"bhoytoy, Those are not mutually exclusive. The church of scientology uses copyright law as a tool to suppress ridicule. They have a long, well established history of doing this."

I repeat: it's called IRONY.

Other Comments by bhoytony

24. Comment #112161 by annabanana on January 16, 2008 at 1:34 pm

Dinesh especially irritates me because he knows just enough about science to sound as if he knows what he's talking about to the general layman when he makes all of these horribly distorted claims. I could totally see how the things he says would make sense if you didn't know any better. Of course, we all do, but there are a good many who don't.

That being said, I think Ann Coulter would have been a good recipient as well. She contributes about as much to our society as a tapeworm to an intestine. What a waste of a human.

Other Comments by annabanana

25. Comment #112171 by D'Arcy on January 16, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Dawkins has his "fleas" and the rest of have the self confessed mosquito D'Souza, (see debate with Hitchens). This particular bloodsucker will probably glory in being given this award, but then what else is a religious propagandist to do?

Religion being based on ignorance of the real world, and bugger-all evidence, has to resort to the "spiritual", "transcendent", "mystical"....(insert your own words), and eventually "divine" explanation of nature.

In this real world, like everyone else, D'Souza has had to make a living, and for him the choice has been to make money out of religion as one of its "celebrity" spokespersons.

A man who claims that science is based on faith has no respect from me.

Other Comments by D'Arcy

26. Comment #112178 by Double Bass Atheist on January 16, 2008 at 1:56 pm

Ann Coulter would have been a good recipient as well. She contributes about as much to our society as a tapeworm to an intestine. What a waste of a human.

Well said Anna. Well said.
Unfortunately, there are just sooooo many fools to choose from, it's hard to pick just one.

"A man without a god is like a fish without a bicycle." – Gloria Steinem

Other Comments by Double Bass Atheist

27. Comment #112181 by al-rawandi on January 16, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Double Bass Atheist,

Google search:

"I f*cked Ann Coulter in the ass, hard"

For the funniest story you will ever read.

Other Comments by al-rawandi

28. Comment #112194 by military_atheist on January 16, 2008 at 2:30 pm

I think an early front runner for 2008 would have to be Mike Huckabe for his "We should ammend the Constitution to conform to the Bible" BS

Other Comments by military_atheist

29. Comment #112209 by D'Arcy on January 16, 2008 at 3:09 pm

The frontrunner in any bad faith competition must surely be the pope. Protests by academics , students and others have made the pope call off his visit to La Sapienza University to speak, (due Thurs 17 Jan 08). The pope is quoted as saying:

"At the time of Galileo the Church remained much more faithful to reason
than Galileo himself. The process against Galileo was reasonable and just".
~ Joseph Ratzinger.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/15/2139155.htm?section=world

Other Comments by D'Arcy

30. Comment #112228 by Bookman on January 16, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Cruise has won in 2008, and we're only half-way through January. The video has so much, on so many different levels. It is the mother lode of self-important, self-satisfied, bubble-headed inanity and insanity. The tragedy is, he's passed on his seed to a new generation.

I suppose he could lose on a technicality (the video is a few years old), but in my book, he's clinched it.

Other Comments by Bookman

31. Comment #112245 by notsobad on January 16, 2008 at 4:09 pm

He doesn't deserve any awards, not even the negative ones.

Other Comments by notsobad

32. Comment #112251 by SPS on January 16, 2008 at 4:16 pm

This is my take on him and the quote from his book:
A sense of purpose is not the sole ownership of religion. The very argument for atheism speaks to that. Having a purpose to our existence does not require that we are created for a purpose. The religious person will relate meaning and purposefulness to their lives, not because it was imparted to them by a creator, but because it makes sense to them within the context of their lives. The atheist will do the same, but does not need to place fictional characters, arguments, or commandments in place of reason. Let's be clear - we give things meaning, not the other way around. Religion can not be argued as fact or reasonable, because it is based on faith. There is simply nothing to grasp onto. Having watched his debate with Dan Dennett, I think this is why Mr. D'Souza speaks the way he does, in a rapid fire, 'I'm going to question the questioner instead of answering the question' manner, so as not to give
too much time to the audience for rational thought. He poses questions in a way to give the appearance of rationality, but it is within a fictional framework with faith based assumptions that he poses as fact. I get the impression Mr. D'Souza's motivation comes more from his own ego than from a desire to argue for truth.

Other Comments by SPS

33. Comment #112282 by kaiserkriss on January 16, 2008 at 5:45 pm

For 2008 I would like to second the TOM CRUISE nomination. His latest rantings on Scientology give "warmduscher" a bad name. It is hard to believe this individual is held in so high respect when his mental acuteness barely passes muster for a Grade 5 graduate. jcw

Other Comments by kaiserkriss

34. Comment #112285 by athegan on January 16, 2008 at 6:23 pm

wooh...the first time the person I vote for wins....Congrats Dinesh....well deserved you bullshitter

Other Comments by athegan

35. Comment #112294 by windweaver on January 16, 2008 at 7:18 pm

are there links to Tom Cruise's rant?

Try the link below. Cruise scares the bejesus out of me.

http://www.anorak.co.uk/celebrities/179436.html

Other Comments by windweaver

36. Comment #112298 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 7:32 pm

I think i would pay £40 to see Tom Cruise Vs Dinesh D'Souza, come on Dinesh, give the people what they want.

Other Comments by Storeo

37. Comment #112299 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 7:36 pm

Try the link below. Cruise scares the bejesus out of me.

http://www.anorak.co.uk/celebrities/179436.html

How unsettling did you find his Maniacal laughing in that? I wouldn't mind it if somone had just told him a joke but it was completely random.

Other Comments by Storeo

38. Comment #112300 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Just read this on his Wikipedia article,

"During his career, D'Souza picked up the nickname "Distort D'Newza" from his more vocal critics. Although not flattering, he actually finds the nickname amusing. "I think I'm the one who thought of it!" He told SPY magazine in 1989. "I can't remember the exact origins of Distort D'Newza, but I was very proud of it when it came out."[8]"

Made me smile, clearly his ability to create fields of straw-men and espouse such confused logic isn't a recent ailment.

Other Comments by Storeo

39. Comment #112303 by Diacanu on January 16, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Storeo-

I think i would pay £40 to see Tom Cruise Vs Dinesh D'Souza,

How much would you pay to see D'Souza nail Anne Coulter?
Covered in mayonnaise to enhance the sticky noises?

And then how much would you pay for the ECT and lasik surgery to wash that out of your eyes and brain?

Other Comments by Diacanu

40. Comment #112308 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 7:55 pm

How much would you pay to see D'Souza nail Anne Coulter?
Covered in mayonnaise to enhance the sticky noises?

And then how much would you pay for the ECT and lasik surgery to wash that out of your eyes and brain?

Perhaps a 3 way debate between all three. With the moderator dressed up like Xenu and every member of the audience dressed in Jesus costume.

Other Comments by Storeo

41. Comment #112310 by Diacanu on January 16, 2008 at 7:57 pm

I didn't mean debate.
*Evil smirk*

Other Comments by Diacanu

42. Comment #112312 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 8:00 pm

Now there's a novel torture method.

Other Comments by Storeo

43. Comment #112314 by braininthevat on January 16, 2008 at 8:03 pm

New name for the award: "Reason Impossible!"

Other Comments by braininthevat

44. Comment #112315 by Roland_F on January 16, 2008 at 8:09 pm

19. Comment #112131 by Geoff about Scientology:

was a little disappointed to see that the BBC article didn't call it a CULT.

You mean the trailer where the Scientology guys follow the BBC crew like a shadow wherever they drive, the reporter once escapes into the toilet with his camera crew to speak undisturbed, and at the end the BBC reporter nearly break down and start yelling at the SC-manager after visiting their brainwash center with psychotic soundtracks, light strobes and huge pictures of Holocaust victims …and a dark voice explaining why Auschwitz were good for the Jews ??

The RD Forum moderator should really post this BBC video here (if this hasn't already happened before).

When the Scientology members in their white dresses streamed to their church like hypnotized lambs after the sirens sounded for assembly, it reminded about the movie 'time machine', where the outside world humans march like in trance trough the gate into the underworld to be enslaved or eaten form the underworld mutants.

About Scientology copyright: I heard that you are only told the true basics of their believe system, after attending several seminars costing up to 250.000 $ in total. The BBC showed a small cartoon movie about their 'divinity' : far away in the Universe 70 million years ago there are poor souls trapped into a volcano and Xeno throw H-bombs into the volcano to free the trapped souls who cluster together and travel trough space to reach earth and enter Ron Hubbard who created the Scientology cult….or some weird story like this.

Other Comments by Roland_F

45. Comment #112317 by Radesq on January 16, 2008 at 8:16 pm

You know, I bet there were people who had nearly the same reaction to the Old Testament back when it was just the Testament. Please don't take that as an endorsement of Scientology -- that would be missing my point entirely.

Other Comments by Radesq

46. Comment #112318 by gawddawg on January 16, 2008 at 8:18 pm

Dinesh D'Souza is obviously a carpetbagger in the finest Reaganite tradition. I watched his 'debate' with Dan Dennett and was disappointed as to how easily he was let off the hook, especially when he randomly conflated political and religious issues (not sure if geopolitics is Dennett's forte or if he was just being polite). He claimed, for example, that Kashmir was a Hindu-Muslim conflict. This is laughable to anyone who knows a bit about the issue and D'Souza knew exactly what he was saying, but he got away with it unchallenged. D'Souza cut his teeth in the harsh political establishment, so he is a rather capable demagogue. People who debate him need to pick apart each and every unfounded assertion he makes and use ridicule at every possible opportunity. The weasel deserves nothing but utter contempt.

Other Comments by gawddawg

47. Comment #112319 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 8:19 pm

I knew Scientology was fucked up, but Jesus,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_opera_in_Scientology_scripture#Espinol

Scientologies view of the universe-
70 trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion years ago (7x10^85 years): The Story of Creation Implants

all the way to,

AD 1150: The Espinol abandon our Solar System

Other Comments by Storeo

48. Comment #112322 by Storeo on January 16, 2008 at 8:22 pm

This is just after the creation of the universe (4 quadrillion years ago)

In the "Assists" lecture of October 3, 1968, Hubbard described a surreal cosmological event said to take place shortly after Incident I (the creation of the universe): "There's the incident called "The Obscene Dog" with it's just a little bit later than Incident One. And sometimes actually by running it, why you can get the PC into Incident One. The Obscene Dog was a sort of a brass dog in a sitting position and anybody who got around to the front of the dog got caught in some electronic current and passed through the dog to the dogs rear end and spat out. Thetans didn't like this."

Other Comments by Storeo

49. Comment #112323 by steveroot on January 16, 2008 at 8:31 pm

26. Comment #112178 by Double Bass Atheist on January 16, 2008 at 1:56 pm

"A man without a god is like a fish without a bicycle." – Gloria Steinem

In the pedantic interests of accuracy, I must point out that this comparison was made by Irina Dunn in a slightly different form:

Gloria Steinem had this to say in a letter she wrote to Time magazine in autumn 2000:

"In your note on my new and happy marital partnership with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.' In fact, Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970 when she was a student at the University of Sydney. She paraphrased the philosopher who said, 'Man needs God like fish needs a bicycle.' Dunn deserves credit for creating such a popular and durable spoof of the old idea that women need men more than vice versa."

Reference:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/414150.html
Steve

Other Comments by steveroot

50. Comment #112332 by Elles on January 16, 2008 at 9:16 pm

Ha! I voted for Dinesh! Twice!

Don't tell anybody...

Anyway, Dawkins only got 5% of the vote but... That's 138 people who have never picked up a single one of his books.

Other Comments by Elles