Richard Dawkins at Protest the Pope Rally in London Sept2010

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Permalink Reply by Robert Tobin on September 18, 2010 at 9:41pm

Britain has produced some great and inspiring orators, It was Winston Churchill who inspired the British people to fight Hitler for their freedom. Professor Richard Dawkins will go down in history as another brilliant orator who will inspire all those who are fighting the tyranny of ALL religion, especally the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church.

Permalink Reply by Fabio on September 19, 2010 at 5:58am

w00t, I was there! It was an amazing march and rally with a bigger turnover than anyone could have expected - despite the unsurprisingly meagre media coverage. I still can't get over the fact that I had been marching right next to Sir Ian McKellen for about thirty minutes without even noticing! I think one of the guys from The Pod Delusion podcast managed to grab a picture or two of him. Is 10,000 the official figure now? Looked like we were many more than that ^^

Permalink Reply by Robert Tobin on September 19, 2010 at 6:58am

Sir Ian McKellen. Now there is a Gentlemn I would love to meet. I have some of his movies::Da Vinci Code", "Lord of the Rings" of course and "Gods and Monsters": his excellent portrayal of Director, James Whale of "Frankenstein fame.

I have seen a figure of 15,000. And I heard Richard Dawkins speak at the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne last March.

Permalink Reply by Fabio on September 19, 2010 at 7:27am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11355258

"Organisers of the protest say 20,000 people took part in the rally; however, police say they are unable to confirm this figure."

Pretty funny, considering the number of policemen that had been stalking us right from the start :P

P.S. You can see a picture of Sir Ian McKellen at the parade there ^^

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on September 19, 2010 at 9:45am

I wouldn't have recognized him.

Permalink Reply by Hugh Kramer on September 19, 2010 at 2:10pm

I watched the video. Not one of Dawkins' more moving speeches but biting all the same.

Permalink Reply by AletheaT on September 26, 2010 at 9:31pm

I dunno, it moved me. Whenever I hear him speak I get on the edge of tears. :D

Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on September 19, 2010 at 2:17pm

Like Fabio and SMS I was there. I have photos and everything (even of Sir Ian)

http://www.atheistnexus.org/profiles/blogs/protest-the-pope-london-...

T'was a terrific speech. Geoffry Robertson, and Johann Hari was also excellent (Hari addressed his opening remarks to the police - "Go and arrest the criminal in Hyde Park!")

I wanted to but didn't stay for Ben Goldacre, I was visibly flagging by that point and beat a hasty retreat back to the pub we'd passed as we'd come down Horse Guard's Parade towards' Downing Street to get some grub.