Richard Dawkins,

Perhaps if you were to ape the manner of theologians like Rowan Williams you might be able to cultivate a more civilised and thoughtful approach to discussion and commentary. Perhaps you could, too, take note of Williams' preface to "Christian Theology" in which he outlines his belief that part of establishing a successful dialogue is to listen honestly to the other side and allow it a chance to speak. The holistic dismissal of theology as "emperor's new clothes" is transparently duplicitous as a means of masking precisely the intellectual arrogance that precludes such dialogue.

Your comments do more than most to accentuate divides within the academy, polarise and marginalize thoughtful discourse and ridicule the entire notion of metaphorical, interpretive, or poetic meaning. Out of you, as James Joyce might say, a line of poetry could not be squeezed.

I implore you to adopt Daniel Dennett's reserve and restraint when dealing with these delicate and complex topics.

Who needs this kind of intellectual thuggery?