Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens Threaten Cheap Publicity Stunt

From the Sunday, London Times:

Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI

RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

The pair believes they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

Whatever one thinks of the merit of Dawkins’ case, this smacks of a cheap publicity trick. I am a fan of Hitchens’ work, though I more often than not disagree with him. It saddens me to see him involve himself in an endeavor that appears to be more about ego and self-promotion than justice.

The children who have been abused under the eyes of the Catholic Church deserve justice and some measure of closure. Neither is to be found in a stunt. Dawkins and Hitchens, both known for their heavily inflated egos are acting out of religious hatred and self-promotion while trying to appear to have noble intentions. I would suggest that both should take a deeper, more honest look at their motivations before they continue.