Some British scientists oppose Richard Dawkins' criticism of religion

A new study has revealed that some British scientists view Richard Dawkins unfavorably for his criticism of religion and misrepresenting science.

The objective of the study, conducted by Rice University in Texas and sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, was to find out about the public understanding of science and how scientists feel about their portrayal in the media.

According to The Independent, over 20,000 scientists from eight countries participated in the survey. In the U.K., 1,581 scientists were sampled and 137 took part in an in-depth interview. Dawkins was not mentioned by name in the study but some of those who were interviewed included him in the discussion.

The author of "The God Delusion" was mentioned by 48 interviewees. Eighty percent of those who mentioned him believed that he misrepresents science and scientists in his books and speeches. The other 20 percent held positive views of the famed atheist. One of them said that Dawkins has "quite an important place in society" for his denunciation of creationism and intelligent design.

The common criticism against Dawkins lied in his opposition to religion. Some of the scientists interviewed are religious but there are those who do not hold any religious views but are still critical of Dawkins.

"Scientists differ in their view of where such borders rest. And they may even view belief in a deity as irrational, but they do not view questions related to the existence of deities or 'the sacred' as within the scope of science," said David Johnson, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada in Reno and the lead author of the study.

One non-religious professor of biology referred to Dawkins as a "fundamentalist atheist" and while another described his work as a "crusade."

A non-religious physicist remarked that the famed atheist is "much too strong about the way he denies religion."

"As a scientist, you've got to be very open, and I'm open to people's belief in religion ... I don't think we're in a position to deny anything unless it's something which is within the scope of science to deny," the physicist added.

Dawkins has drawn criticism even from his fellow skeptics. In January, he was uninvited as a keynote speaker at a skeptics conference in New York after he retweeted a video that equated feminism with radical Islamism.