Reflections of a stormy petrel

I agree. Because Sagan's view was of something positive, one learned something from him even where one disagreed. He was passionately keen to transmit scientific ideas and results. Dawkins, by contrast, is a reductionist even within his own field; his best known theory is that of the "selfish gene", which manages to make Darwinism look even meaner and more cruel than it had ever seemed before. And where we get beyond Dawkins' own speciality, then the fact that he is essentially preaching out of hate and fear is as evident as the stars in the sky at night.

(Incidentally, a beautiful sentence from the Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini - who was not Catholic: "He who denies God in the sight of a starry sky... must be either a greatly unhappy person, or a greatly guilty one.")