Dawkins critics are sounding shrill and strident. The way I look at it after reading thousands of comments most of which leapt to Richards' defense is that this is a short term set back.

He gets in the first punch, they reel, they build a strategy of trying to discredit him and "dead agent" him in the minds of his target audience.

Thing is, that strategy only works for a short period of time, a "yeah whatever" effect starts to take whenever that criticism is made. Eventually.

But how to shorten this lead time to balance?

Two ways I can think of:

1. Provoke the religious apologists to become even more shrill.

2. Don't provoke, just mock them and predict their response before they make it.

One of the highest ranking comments on one of the threads over on the Guardian was a send up of the shrill militant atheist argument.

Religion has a choleric temper, irritate it.