Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

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The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS or RDF) is a non-profit organization founded by biologist Richard Dawkins in 2006. It is trusteed by Dawkins and Claire Enders in the United Kingdom along with Karen Owens in the United States.^[1] The British Foundation is registered as Charity Number 1119952.

Among its planned activities, RDFRS will finance research into the psychology of belief and religion, finance scientific education programs and materials, and publicize and support secular charitable organizations.^[1]

On 2 April, 2007, an online shop was launched on the Foundation website, with Growing Up in the Universe – a DVD of lectures from 1991 – the first release on sale.

As of 14 September, 2007, it has been approved for non-profit status in the United States and United Kingdom. In the US, this means that a taxpayer who donates to RDFRS is entitled to apply to the IRS for a tax refund.^[2] UK donors can complete a gift aid form to enable the foundation to claim back the tax on their donation.

Theist author Marion Ledwig suggests that the foundation may have been set up as an atheist counterpart to the John Templeton Foundation,^[3] an organization which Dawkins has publicly criticized for corrupting science, especially in The God Delusion. Dawkins had in TED talk, prior to writing The God Delusion, called out for the need for an "anti-Templeton" to step up, saying that if his books sold better, he would do that himself.

[edit] See also

• Out Campaign
• Brights movement

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Our Mission. richarddawkins.net. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
2. ^ The Four Horsemen: Available Now on DVD. richarddawkinsfoundation.org. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
3. ^ Ledwig, Marion (2008). God's Rational Warriors. Ontos-Verlag, p. 76. ISBN 978-3-938793-87-9. 

[edit] External links

• Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science – Official website
• RDFRS at MySpace

v • d • e Richard Dawkins Books The Selfish Gene (1976) · The Extended Phenotype (1982) · The Blind Watchmaker (1986) · River out of Eden (1995) · Climbing Mount Improbable (1996) · Unweaving the Rainbow (1998) · A Devil's Chaplain (2003) · The Ancestor's Tale (2004) · The God Delusion (2006) Related works Growing Up in the Universe (1991) · Break the Science Barrier (1996) · The Atheism Tapes (2004) · Beyond Belief (2006) · Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think (2006) · The Root of All Evil? (2006) · The Enemies of Reason (2007) · The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008) See also Out Campaign · Meme · Gerin oil · Foundation for Reason and Science · Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit · Lalla Ward

v • d • e Skeptic organizations USA Center for Inquiry (CFI) · Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI/CSICOP) · James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) · New England Skeptical Society · The Skeptics Society India Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj · Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association · Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) · Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham · Science and Rationalists' Association of India · Tarksheel Society Other Australian Skeptics · Irish Skeptics Society · Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDF/RDFRS)