Currently I am reading ¿Dónde está Dios, papá? which is a book by Spanish author Clemente Novella that gives gentle but clear answers to hypothetical questions by children in regard to matters of religion, spirituality and science versus faith.

I did not particularly like the chapter on child abuse in The God Delusion. It was pretty absurd. Richard Dawkins had one experience of uncomfortable touching as a child and thinks that makes him some kind of expert on what the majority of sexual abuse is like. He claims that Religion itself is worse than sexual child abuse. That's a pretty inane statement to make and absurd to even choose to make such a comparison. Obviously it depends on the circumstances of the religion and of the sexual abuse. He thinks that it's wrong all the people that have come forward to report the vast amount of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic church, and thinks people should just leave the priests alone and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in peace since many of the crimes happened long ago (but it was the silence and control and fear that kept the children silent for so long, and allowed the abuse to continue, so he is wrong about that). Anyhow, I've discussed it with other Atheist friends online that love Richard Dawkins and when I shared an article that he wrote elaborating on it, everyone agreed he was way off the deep end when he discusses that topic. So, he is good for evolutionary biology and atheism, but a bit of a ding bat when discussing child abuse.

I prefer this atheist on the topic of child abuse in churches. Explicit lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sph8Qu8wLAk

I did not particularly like the chapter on child abuse in The God Delusion. It was pretty absurd. Richard Dawkins had one experience of uncomfortable touching as a child and thinks that makes him some kind of expert on what the majority of sexual abuse is like. He claims that Religion itself is worse than sexual child abuse. That's a pretty inane statement to make and absurd to even choose to make such a comparison. Obviously it depends on the circumstances of the religion and of the sexual abuse. He thinks that it's wrong all the people that have come forward to report the vast amount of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic church, and thinks people should just leave the priests alone and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in peace since many of the crimes happened long ago (but it was the silence and control and fear that kept the children silent for so long, and allowed the abuse to continue, so he is wrong about that). Anyhow, I've discussed it with other Atheist friends online that love Richard Dawkins and when I shared an article that he wrote elaborating on it, everyone agreed he was way off the deep end when he discusses that topic. So, he is good for evolutionary biology and atheism, but a bit of a ding bat when discussing child abuse.

I prefer this atheist on the topic of child abuse in churches. Explicit lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sph8Qu8wLAk

Also, I did read some more recent stuff from Richard Dawkins in which he does explain himself a little better. He's no expert on child abuse or empathy. And he does have his own issues from his own experience. So, he doesn't represent any good knowledge on the subject, he's just like any other person that has his own unique experience and feelings about that, which is different from the experiences of other people (that were abused more extensively and with other harmful elements such as betrayal). And he does seem more supportive of child abuse prevention in the church. And I guess it's a good thing that he does speak openly about his experiences.

People expect a lot from Dawkins.... he's a great atheist voice as well as expert in evolutionary biology, but he's certainly not particularly progressive when it comes to social issues. A lot of his thoughts are clearly coming from an aged educated white British man, and as such, tend to fall in line with the stereotypical aged educated white British man. I am not his biggest fan, but appreciate him for what he is....