According to this site, however, Mr Thomsen, state representative for Oklahoma, has taken it upon himself to try and block Richard Dawkins from speaking at Oklahoma University.
I'll save myself repeating what I said to him, and just copy/paste the email:
From: "Michael Douglas"
Subject: Richard Dawkins
Date: Fri, March 6, 2009 5:31 pm
To: todd.thomsen@okhouse.gov
Hello Mr. Thomsen,
It has recently come to my attention that you intend to block Mr.
Richard Dawkins from speaking at Oklahoma University and I am shocked
that this could actually be considered.
Whenever it comes to speaking on a subject where one or both the sides
are so emphatic about their side, you need to make sure you have the
best speakers possible, and Dawkins is undeniably one of the best
speakers you could find to talk about Evolution and about Atheism. He
has done extensive research into both Atheism/Evolution and into
Theism/Creationism, and he is an eloquent, powerful speaker.
I'm afraid the only reason I can think of for you not wanting him to
speak is in case too many people see things his way after his visit, and
I can understand why you would want to avoid this, but that would be a
very bad example of censorship. Censorship should only be used in
certain extreme situations such as child pornography or extreme violence
depictions, not in a case of something where it should be up to an
individual to decide what he or she believes.
I look forward to any correspondence you may or may not send, and I have
encouraged a number of people at my University to also send some emails,
though they may not spend their time.
I strongly encourage you to listen to all correspondence your recieve on
this situation, and to look to any news stories online about it, such as
the one I heard about this from, so you can make the correct decision: a
balanced and fair one for everyone involved.
Thank you for your time,
Michael Douglas
Your opinions on this?
Even if you are not a fan of Richard Dawkins (hell, I know plenty atheists who aren't, never mind theists!) I would encourage you to contact Mr. Thomsen about this matter, especially if you are an Oklahoma resident.
As a final note, I would also like to say that the strength of the title of my last post was neutered by Blogger. It was intended to say "Censorship is bull[censored]" but I used < > tags (like "Bull < censored>") and It must have treated it as html tags, lol.
