Richard Dawkins Reads Some Hate Mail

Saw this very funny video of Richard Dawkins on Pharyngula while I was catching up on what I've missed over the past few weeks and decided I wanted to share it here as well.

Posted by YouTube user:Prophiscient

Putting aside the obvious and at this point ubiquitous irony of messages filled with hatred and threats of violence being sent to non-believers in the name of defending some "loving god" and "virtuous faith", can someone please explain to me the purpose of hate mail?

In the great: to be a dick or not to be a dick debate, I'm WAAAAY over on the so called dick side of the aisle as I have no penitence for pretending to respect the many ridiculous things people choose to believe in. Nor do I feel any need to apologize for my own opinions and lack of beliefs or for the use of gentle, politically correct language to express myself. So I have no qualms what so ever with insulting someone or openly admitting your disdain or even hatred for their feelings or beliefs.

But taking the time to send someone a letter for the sole purpose of letting them know how much you hate them personally seems, not only incredibly narcissistic, but like a massive waste of one's time. Especially knowing that the vast majority of people receiving such letters are going to react to them the same as Dawkins and simply laugh about them and then go on to forget the message, along with the person who wrote it, ever even existed. So why bother? If you have nothing constructive to say, positive or otherwise, why waste the time to say anything at all?

I just don't get it.

-CAINE-