Uber-Atheist Richard Dawkins at Emory this weekend

April 7, 10:38 PMAtlanta Atheism ExaminerJohn Snider

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Controversial author and activist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) will be at the Emory Conference Center Hotel this weekend (April 9-12), delivering a keynote address for the annual American Atheists National Convention. Will Atlanta show him our much-vaunted Southern hospitality—or will the pitchforks-and-torches crowd be out in force?

The deadline for online registration for the convention has passed, but according to the American Atheists website you can still register at the door.

Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist retired from Oxford University, was in the news most recently when he was reported as saying Pope Benedict XVI was “either stupid, ignorant or dim,” referring to the Pope’s insistence that condom use actually makes the AIDS epidemic worse.  Dawkins later corrected this, claiming what he really said was that the pontiff was "either stupid, ignorant or wicked" (he charitably forgot to add “power-hungry” to the list of possibilities).  In March, a conservative Oklahoma legislator submitted a non-binding resolution condemning the appearance of Dawkins at the University of Oklahoma.  Dawkins appeared anyway, waiving his speaking fee, but the Bible-thumpers in the state capitol are threatening an investigation (of what, exactly, it's not clear) nonetheless.