For better or worse, Richard Dawkinssimply isn't one to bite his tongue. On Sunday, the outspoken evolutionary biologist and best-selling author took to Twitter to suggest that Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teen who was arrested last week after showing up at school with a clock some teachers thought looked like a homemade bomb, may have committed a"fraud"by wrongfully taking credit for building the clock. Dawkins also suggested Ahmedmight have wanted police to arresthim, though he said he believed the teen shouldn'thave been taken into custody. As you might imagine, the tweets sparked a spirited conversation on the social media platform. Several people praised Dawkins, with one Twitter user saying, "someone gets it." Others derided him as a "conspiracy theorist"and a"Twitter crank"-- reminiscent of Salon recently referring to him as a "sour crank." Whether the 74-year-old Englishman is a crank or a fearless opponent of political correctness is, of course, a matter of opinion. But there's no denying he's no stranger to stirring up controversy online. Scroll down for a sampling of Dawkins' controversial tweets on topics ranging from date rape and abortion to Islam. Story continues after tweets.AbortionWith respect to those meanings of "human" that are relevant to the morality of abortion, any fetus is less human than an adult pig Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 13, 2013 @RichardDawkins @AidanMcCourt I honestly don't know what I would do if I were pregnant with a kid with Down Syndrome. Real ethical dilemma. InYourFaceNewYorker (@InYourFaceNYer) August 20, 2014 @InYourFaceNYer Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 20, 2014 Rape Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse. If you think that's an endorsement of date rape, go away and learn how to think. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 29, 2014 .@mrgregariously Exactly. If you want to drive, don't get drunk. If you want to be in a position to testify & jail a man, don't get drunk. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 13, 2014 .@st3reo1som3r Of course that's your right. But don't expect a jury to take your word against his if you can't remember what happened. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 13, 2014 Pedophilia Mild pedophilia is bad. Violent pedophilia is worse. If you think that's an endorsement of mild pedophilia, go away and learn how to think. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 29, 2014 Creationists If you're a young earth creationist you may be not stupid but just ignorant. Fortunately ignorance is curable. Try reading a science book. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) May 25, 2015 Islam All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 8, 2013 Of course you can have an opinion about Islam without having read Qur'an. You don't have to read Mein Kampf to have an opinion about nazism. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 25, 2013 Suggest always put Islamic "scholar" in quotes, to avoid insulting true scholars. True scholars have read more than one book. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 25, 2014 Islam needs a feminist revolution. It will be hard. What can we do to help' Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 23, 2015 Of COURSE most Muslims are peaceful. But if someone's killed for what they drew or said or wrote, you KNOW the religion of the killers. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) January 7, 2015 Are you a woman bored with life in UK' Start a new life in our Caliphate as a SLAVE. If you change your mind, you can have a free beheading Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) July 6, 2015 It's been suggested that, if Muhammad were alive today, he would be a member of ISIS. Interesting to hear Islamic scholars' take on this. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) April 1, 2015 If his tweets seem to target certain groups -- well, it seems as if Dawkins, too, sees himself as belonging to a group that is something of a target. Lost an argument' Don't worry, just accuse your opponent of being old, white and privileged. That's the ticket. Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) May 23, 2014 Certainly, these represent just a tiny slice of Dawkins' tweets, which now number more than 27,000. Dawkins seems quick to engage those who respond to him online, whether they're agreeing or issuing an attack, and he's not above owning up to his own mistakes. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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