Richard Dawkins is about as staunch of an atheist as there is. He sees religion and faith as destructive, and he actively seeks to convert people to atheism. Dawkins has called the Book of Mormon “an obvious fake” and Joseph Smith a “charlatan.”
Notwithstanding that, I believe it can be productive for Mormons to engage with scientifically minded people like Dawkins whenever we have the opportunity — not to convert, but simply to converse. Doing so might help us to recognize the unique aspects of our theology (and to think more seriously about their implications). And we might find that we have more in common than we thought.
Defining “God”
there exists a superhuman, supernatural intelligence who deliberately designed and created the universe and everything in it, including us.
This definition, however, arguably does not encompass the Mormon view of God, at least as I understand it. The key terms are “supernatural” and “everything.”
