Well-known atheist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins has no problem offending religious groups - and followers of Christ are no exception. On Wednesday, the 74-year-old God Delusion author took to Twitter to mock those who believe the account found in John 2:1-11 of the New Testament, in which Jesus Christ miraculously turns water into wine at a wedding feast in Galilee.
"There are people who believe Jesus turned water into wine," Dawkins scoffed. "How do they hold down a job in the 21st century?"
The evolutionary biologist didn't stop there, also taking aim at Muslims, who believe that while the prophet Muhammad was in Mecca, Allah split the Moon as a miracle to the Meccans.
"There are also people out there who believe Mohammed split the moon in two," Dawkins tweeted. "Presumably they are capable of tying their own shoelaces."
In an October interview with Fox News Radio's Alan Colmes, the prominent atheist charged that the Bible is just as "toxic" as the Quran, but reasoned that the difference between Muslims and Christians is that most Christians are taught to believe the Bible "metaphorically."
When asked if he finds one religion to be "sicker" or "more toxic" than the others, Dawkins stated that it is not unfair to say that in the today's world, Islam is to blame for the "maximum toxicity in religion."
Dawkins asserted that "it's partly that [Muslims] are taught to believe that the Quran is literally true."
Colmes responded by saying that many Christians are also taught that the Bible is literally true.
The Selfish Gene author concurred, but clarified that that there are not as many Christians who take the Bible as literally as Muslims view their holy book.
"There are but they are not that numerous," he stated. "The Bible itself is as toxic as the Quran but most Christians are not taught to believe it literally. Most Christians are taught to believe it metaphorically or allegorically."
Despite his apparent disdain for religion, Dawkins has in the past admitted that while he doesn't believe in the supernatural elements of Christianity, he wouldn't mind being called "a secular Christian."
"I would describe myself as a secular Christian in the same sense as secular Jews have a feeling for nostalgia and ceremonies," Dawkins said at Britain's Hay Festival in 2014, according to The Telegraph.
In January, Dawkins also described himself as a "cultural Anglican" during a debate with former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on whether "religion has no place in the 21st Century."
Dawkins told the audience in the debate that he lost that his primary concern was simply whether religion was true, and described religion as a "cop-out."
"It is a betrayal of the intellect, a betrayal of all that's best about what makes us human," he argued. "It's a phony substitute for an explanation, which seems to answer the question until you examine it and realize that it does no such thing... It peddles false explanations where real explanations could have been offered, false explanations that get in the way of the enterprise of discovering real explanations."
However, when asked by Colmes if he would ever consider changing his mind on God and religion, Dawkins responded that he would.
"Of course, yes," he assured. "Just show me some evidence and I'll change."
