When Richard Dawkins suffered a stroke earlier this month, the C of E responded with a tweet of ‘prayers for Richard Dawkins and his family’.
Since then, media commentators and tweeters have heatedly debated the rights and wrongs of offering prayers for the most famous atheist in the world.
Amongst the predictable responses on both sides of the divide, there have been a few surprises. For example, Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society has said, somewhat mildly, that it could just be seen as the religious equivalent of saying you’re in our thoughts - although he did also wonder if the tweet was an attempt to court publicity. The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, on the other hand, said, ‘I think it’s a bit cheap and nasty.’
Rev Arun Arora has robustly defended the tweet, reminding everyone that Jesus urges Christians to pray for their opponents. And plenty of Christians have joined in with and felt good about praying for RD.
Personally, while I don’t think the tweet was mocking or sarcastic, as some on Twitter have asserted, I do feel it was ill-advised. The C of E has behaved as if its worldview is a wonderful one-size-fits-all Procrustean bed.
At a vulnerable and stressful time in his life, the tweet may have left RD feeling jangled. It would certainly not have comforted or heartened him – and that for me is the bottom line and the reason they should have desisted.
At the very least, the C of E could have restrained itself from tweeting. Strictly private prayers that RD need never know about – or even a private message of support in non-religious language sent directly to RD would have been better. A #PrayForDawkins campaign tweeted to the world at large feels wrong to me.
What do others think?