Richard Dawkins: Clock Maker Ahmed Mohamed A Fraud? Atheist Backs Off On Muslim Teen

According to atheist Richard Dawkins, clock maker Ahmed Mohamed might not actually be a fraud like Dawkins originally thought. Over the weekend, Dawkins was seen on Twitter considering whether Ahmed intelligently designed his briefcase digital clock to generate controversy over so-called Islamophobia, but now he seems to have toned down his rhetoric.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, a 13-year-old African-American boy from Georgia named C.J. Pearson has been making waves on Facebook by calling out President Barack Obama for inviting Ahmed Mohamed to the White House. He claims the U.S. president is making agenda-based decisions while ignoring cop shootings related to Black Lives Matter.

The idea that Ahmed Mohamed created the clock in order to spark a controversy over American Muslims and racism has become the latest political hot potato. Some have contested how Ahmed behaved when questioned by teachers and the police, and fellow atheist Bill Maher has even defended their actions.

“People at the school thought it might be a bomb, because it looks exactly like a f**king bomb. It’s not the color of his skin. Excuse me, somebody look me in the eye right here and tell me. Over the last 30 years, if so many young Muslim men … and he’s young, 14, but that’s not like it’s never happened before, hasn’t blown a lot of s**t up around the world. And this guy, this kid deserves an apology, because he wasn’t one of them … For the last 30 years, it’s been the one culture that has been blowing s**t up over and over again.”

But others say the issue goes higher than the child. For example, according to Breitbart, it’s not about how the clock appeared, or how Ahmed behaved, but due to who his father is and how quickly the parents made the clock a national incident.

Mohamed ElHassan Mohamed is a Muslim politician who apparently has tried to run for President of Sudan twice. In addition, the father allegedly has a history of making publicity about Islamophobia and has been known for debating Christians inside America.

“ElHassan has been looking for publicity and chances to fight against Islamophobia for a considerable period,” claimed Breitbart. “Now he has seized it, going so far as to claim his son was ‘tortured’ by school and law enforcement officials.”

The controversy over this issue has even atheists and conservative websites sounding awfully alike. Richard Dawkins’ clock criticism started early on Sunday morning when he linked to videos and blogs by engineers who claimed that the briefcase clock was “brought into school to create an alarmed reaction.”

Based upon this premise, Richard Dawkins’ clock criticism asked if Ahmed Mohamed might have intentionally created the device with a political angle in mind.

“Assembling clock from bought components is fine. Taking clock out of its case to make it look as if he built it is not fine. Which is true?” Dawkins said on Twitter. “Yes, there are other reasons why a boy might take a clock out of its casing and pretend he’d made it. Trying to impress teachers, for instance. If the reassembled components did something more than the original clock, that’s creative. If not, it looks like hoax.”

But when Richard Dawkins’ clock critique became well known, he had some Twitter users challenge his statements. In response, Dawkins backed off somewhat from his original statements, and it sounds like he probably wished he had stuck to talking about blind watchmakers instead of poking this particular hornet’s nest.

“I agree, although his English seems good, it’s possible he doesn’t know the meaning of ‘invention.’ And he should NOT have been arrested,” wrote Dawkins. “Sorry if I go a bit over the top in my passion for truth… We were all fooled, and arresting him was wrong. Like searching shoes at airports. I’m not putting down the child. I’m putting down myself and the rest of us for being fooled. And the police for arresting him for nothing.”

What do you think?

[Image via Getty Images]