Why Dawkins is right and his critics are wrong

NSS Editorial

Why Dawkins is right and his critics are wrong
As the Channel 4 series The Genius of Charles Darwin drew to an end on Monday, the usual chorus of insults reined down on the head of its star, Richard Dawkins. Despite the fact that Dawkins went out of his way to avoid bad-tempered arguments or overt proselytising on atheism, his critics saw only what they wanted to see – and often that was not what appeared on the screen.

In one section of the film, Dawkins met a class of schoolchildren and asked them what they knew about evolution. Most said they had the rudiments, but also stated that they preferred to stick with their religion’s explanation. Dawkins took them to a beach in Dorset to hunt for fossils. He gave them a quick lesson on how these ancient relics illustrated clearly that life on earth was tens, if not hundreds, of millions of years old. Not six thousand, which is what their religion told them.

Some of the children, though, were impervious to this knowledge, and Dawkins was disappointed. But he did not challenge them or demand that they change their mind. The Radio Times, however, still published a letter from someone criticising the programme, saying Dawkins “tried to promulgate his atheist doctrine amongst schoolchildren.”

AA Gill in The Sunday Times wrote: “His anger and bombast stand in stark contrast to Darwin’s quiet, inquisitive humility.”

Michael Deacon, the Telegraph’s critic, too, couldn’t resist a pop: “I, too, am an atheist”, he wrote, “yet Dawkins is so fanatical that I find myself playing devil’s advocate, or in this case God’s.”

It was sad to see Libby Purves, once a half-decent journalist, now obsessed with religion. She has a “Faith” column on the Times website of such unutterable stupidity it leaves one wondering how this once-great newspaper fell into the hands of such nincompoops. She wrote of schoolchildren’s fossil-hunt: “The moment one of them found an ammonite on the beach, Professor Dawkins demanded instant atheism.”

What programme were these people watching? I saw none of this. It is quite clear that Richard Dawkins has learned his lesson from previous programmes and tries to subdue his personal annoyance at the wilful ignorance he encounters. I thought he was the model of restraint when confronted with John Mackay, a leading creationist who insisted that “before the flood, people lived to be one thousand years old” and the “science teacher” at a state-funded grammar school who insisted that the earth as no more than 6,000 years old.

And that is before we came to the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose famous silver-tongue seemed to become tied as he foundered to find a way out of the logical mess he created when trying to square his beliefs with reality. I thought Dawkins let him off rather lightly when he put the embarrassing evasions down to the use of “poetic language”.

Richard Dawkins wasn’t prepared to say it on air, but I’ll say it for him here – if the Archbishop truly believes what he said on Monday’s programme, then he is a deluded fool. He’s often advertised as an intellectual giant. Intellect giant? I’ve said before and I’ll say it again now – it’s all flim-flam. Rowan Williams is an emperor with no clothes, and in this film we glimpsed his nakedness.

I don’t know what it is that makes sensible people want to throw in their lot with the creationists and intelligent design merchants as soon as Dawkins’ name is mentioned. Maybe it is some kind of residual feeling that they must be respectful of religion, even when it propounds absurdities. They think it shouldn’t be attacked because nice people believe in it as well as murderous wackoes.

But as Dawkins pointed out – the nice people who subscribe to ridiculous things simply open the door to the nasties who want to blow us up or impose their fantasies on us by law.

Creationism is stupid and that’s all there is to it. There is no equivalence with science, and we must resist the claim that there is. Creationism belongs with the other fairy tales and horror stories that make up religious education; and religious education belongs in church, not in school.

22 August 2008

God rest you merry atheist by Libby Purves, Times Online

reposted from: http://richarddawkins.net/article,2037,n,n
Chris Street comments are in bright green;

highlights in yellow blockquotes.

Reposted from:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article3065649.ece

What with all the crowds and the shopping and the formulation of complex family Christmas treaties, you may have missed the enchanting news about Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. In a good mood Professor Dawkins dismisses all faith as "harmless nonsense... the great cop-out". In a bad mood he tends to call it a wicked, "infectious virus". He is not shy to air his views on the subject.

At which point I should say that - though not wholly of his mind - I actually have a lot of time for the Dawk. Organised religions do often abuse their position and their followers, and need to be told so; and his thesis is far more intelligently based than the infantile vitriol of Christopher Hitchens or the sneering cool of most media atheism. Moreover, Professor Dawkins' recent programmes on New Age superstition were more than welcome: the best TV moment of the year was the sight of a dishevelled woman earnestly explaining what DNA was - to the great biologist! - and then offering to "replace" the missing DNA from Atlantis, putting it into his cells by wiggling her fingers and blowing at him.

I could watch that clip all day, just for his face.

But the really fabulous news I mentioned is that Richard Dawkins, Prophet of Atheism, has said in a BBC interview that he is

not against "cultural" Christianity and "Yes, I like singing carols along with everyone else".

Which raises enough tantalising philosophical and ethical questions to keep us going till Christmas Eve. Dawkins sings carols? Does he sing all the words? Does he boom out lines about herald angels, holy nights, the tender Lamb promised from eternal years? Does he croon: "What can I give Him, poor as I am?" Does the polemicist who gave three eloquent pages to deconstructing the story of St Luke's Gospel happily warble O Little Town of Bethlehem and Once in Royal David's City? Does the man who says that religious education is tantamount to "child abuse" feel wholly comfortable crooning Away in a Manger?

Or does he censor the words? Do neighbours at Oxford carol concerts suddenly become aware that one pleasing baritone has abruptly dropped out before the first "O come let us adore him" and failed to return for the final fortissimo?

How can his famous, well-modulated voice choke out the word "adore", apropos a God he calls a "misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully"?

Well, you see the pleasure. Rewriting the Dawkins carol sheet could keep us all busy. "God rest ye merry Gentlemen, pass on your DNA/ For genes are strong and se-el-fish and will find out a way"... "Silent night, Science is right"... "Away in a helix, no crib for a bed/ The little Lord Genome laid down its sweet head..." It gets tricky; I am having some trouble with the scansion of "While Schrödinger watched his cat by night", but I'll get there.

But leave the poor man alone.

The point is that he obligingly raises the more general question of how the unbeliever, the half-believer and the ex-believer should treat the cultural heritage of Christianity, especially at Christmas.

As Aled Jones and Katie Melua averred on the Today programme yesterday, the carols are good tunes and fun to sing, and you needn't be immensely religious to enjoy them. I am certainly not naive enough to believe that everyone who sings them is burning with faith. Some are, and thus have no problem with the adoring, but I suspect that many approach carols in a spirit of cautious unexpressed hope - willing to leave the door just a crack open to the possibility that there might be something or Someone out there, beyond it all, incapable of being pinned down by science or reason but nonetheless wonderful and benign

. That, combined with a certain respect for the generations who went before and a wistful longing for the "hopes and fears of all the years" to be resolved one day, whether before death or after, is a reasonable spirit in which to have a good old sing at Christmas.

But if you loudly and repeatedly make a career of denying any possibility at all of the reality of God, how honest is it to sing? How easy to reconcile? How insulting to those who mean every word of it? One can obviously do a bit of sectarian tourism: once at supper with the Chief Rabbi I did sing along with the Yiddish grace-after-meals. But then I am broadly a deist, and if Jonathan Sacks was prepared to tolerate our inaccurate pronunciation and weak grip of the tune, it seemed fair enough for dinner guests to give it a spin. Likewise I admit that the two million of us who sang "Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set!" on The Mall in Jubilee year didn't honestly want to reconquer India.

But there are limits. If I found myself at a Nazi rally I would not sing the Horst-Wessel-Lied; if I were with the Druids at Stonehenge I doubt that I would don a sheet and join in hymns to the rising sun or whatever, because I think it is all fabricated modern nonsense.

And if suddenly transported to that American church where they sing "God hates fags" (it's on Faith Central blog, click and see) and someone passed me a hymn sheet, I wouldn't join in. Not even hum along, however catchy the tune.

Well, it's something to think about in the pre-Christmas queues.

Can you sing something while meaning the opposite? Can Professor Dawkins be truly merry at a carol concert while publicly excoriating the "time-consuming, wealth-consuming, hostility-provoking rituals and anti-factual counter-productive fantasies of religion..."?

Or should he stay true to himself, and stick to a verse or two of Frosty the Snowman?

50 Bushisms by Libby Purves.

George W. Bush talks to God but he also talks about God. Here are his top 50 quotes about religion, the Almighty, and putting words into God's mouth.

1. I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq. And I did.'

A tad worrying!

The Word according to Dubya: 50 religious insights from George Bush

reposted from Times

1. I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did. Sharm el-Sheikh August 2003

2. I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job.
Statement made during campaign visit to Amish community, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jul. 9, 2004

3. I'm also mindful that man should never try to put words in God's mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being, play God. Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2005

4. God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear. Los Angeles, California, Mar. 3, 2004

5. I tell people all the time, you're equally American if you're a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. You're equally American if you believe in an Almighty or don't believe in an Almighty. That's a sacred freedom.
Washington, D.C., Mar. 10, 2006

6. Well, first of all, you got to understand some of my view on freedom, it's not American's gift to the world. See, freedom is God -- is God given. Interview with TVR, Romania, Nov. 23, 2002

7. I'm sure there is some kind of heavy doctrinal difference, which I'm not sophisticated enough to explain to you. Explaining the issues involved in his switching from attending an Episcopal church to attending a Methodist one, (date is approximate:), Jul. 1, 1994

8. I don't think you order suiciders to kill innocent men, women, and children if you're a religious person. Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, Jul. 14, 2004

9. And there's nothing more powerful in helping change the country than the faith -- faith in Dios.
National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., May 16, 2002

10. We believe in an Almighty, we believe in the freedom for people to worship that Almighty. They don't. Martinsburg, West Virginia, Jul. 4, 2007

11. The spirit of our people is the source of America's strength. And we go forward with trust in that spirit, confidence in our purpose, and faith in a loving God who made us to be free.
5th anniversary of the Sep. 11 attacks, White House, Sep. 11, 2006

12. Churches all across the country are reaching out -- synagogues, people from different faiths understand that it makes sense to help their parishioners realize the benefits of this plan.
Sun City Center, Florida, May 9, 2006

13.We can never replace lives, and we can't heal hearts, except through prayer.
Enterprise, Alabama, Mar. 3, 2007

14. God bless the people of this part of the world. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aug. 4, 2007

15. I believe there's an Almighty, and I believe the Almighty's great gift to each man and woman in this world is the desire to be free. This isn't America's gift to the world, it is a universal gift to the world, and people want to be free. Manhattan, Kansas, Jan. 23, 2006

16. I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah
White House, Dec. 10, 200117.

17. I see an opportunity at home when I hear the stories of Christian and Jewish women alike, helping women of cover, Arab American women go shop because they're afraid to leave their home.
Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2001

18. It's a sign from above. Comment made when television light caught fire above crowd, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mar. 9, 2001

19. I did denounce it. I de- I denounced it. I denounced interracial dating. I denounced anti-Catholic bigacy... bigotry. Responding to attacks on his visit to ultra-conservative Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina, Feb. 25, 2000

20. We are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, grateful for the loved ones who give meaning to our lives, and grateful for the many gifts of this prosperous land. On Thanksgiving we acknowledge that all of these things, and life itself, come not from the hand of man, but from Almighty God.
Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2002

21. We say in our country, everybody matters, everybody is precious in the sight of an Almighty.
Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Oct. 31, 2002

22. We love the fact that people can worship an almighty God any way they see fit here in America.
Phoenix, Arizona, Sep. 28, 2002

23. And I just -- I cannot speak strongly enough about how we must collectively get after those who kill in the name of -- in the name of some kind of false religion.
Press appearance with King Abdullah of Jordan, Aug. 1, 2002

24. We are commanded by God and called by our conscience to love others as we want to be loved ourselves. Ohio State University, Jun. 14, 2002

25. By being active citizens in your church or your synagogue, or for those Muslims, in your mosque, and adhering to the admission to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself, that's how we can stand up.
Remarks to the cattle industry annual convention and trade show, Denver, Colorado, Feb. 8, 2002

26. And we base it, our history, and our decision making, our future, on solid values. The first value is, we're all God's children. Washington, D.C., Jul. 16, 2003

27. One of the great things about this country is a lot of people pray. Washington, D.C., Apr. 13, 2003

28. And there's no doubt in my mind, when the United States acts abroad and home, we do so based upon values -- particularly the value that we hold dear to our hearts, and that is, everybody ought to be free. I want to repeat what I said during my State of the Union to you. Liberty is not America's gift to the world. What we believe strongly, and what we hold dear, is liberty is God's gift to mankind. And we hold that value precious. And we believe it is true. White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Feb. 9, 2003

29. This great, powerful nation is motivated not by power for power's sake, but because of our values. If everybody matters, if every life counts, then we should hope everybody has the great God's gift of freedom. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jan. 29, 2003

30. The short-term objective of this country is to find an enemy and bring them to justice before they strike us. The long-term objective is to make this world a more free and hopeful and peaceful place. I believe we'll succeed because freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.
Portsmouth, Ohio, Sep. 10, 2004

31. And if you choose to -- if you believe in the Almighty, you can -- you're equally an American. If you're a Jew, Christian or Muslim or Hindi or whatever. It is one of the great traits and traditions of our country, where people can worship the way you see fit. Interview on Larry King Live (CNN),, Aug. 15, 2004

32. By the way, to whom much has been given, much is owed. Not only are we leading the world in terms of encouraging freedom and peace, we're feeding the hungry. We're taking care of, as best as we possibly can, the victims of HIV/AIDS. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jul. 20, 2004

33. Faith-based is an important part of my life, individually, but I don't -- I don't ascribe a person's opposing my nominations to an issue of faith. Prime time press conference, White House, Apr. 28, 2005

34. I believe liberty is universal. I don't believe it is just for the United States of America alone. I believe there is an Almighty, and I believe the Almighty's gift to people worldwide is the desire to be free. Fort Irwin, California, Apr. 4, 2007

35. What a powerful statement to the world about the compassion of the American people that you're free to choose the religion you want in our country. Washington, D.C., Sep. 29, 2006

36. The United States of America must understand that freedom is universal, that there is an Almighty, and the great gift of that Almighty to each man and woman in this world is the desire to be free. Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 30, 2006

37. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research. ...Human life is a gift from our Creator -- and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale. 2006 State of the Union Address, Jan. 31, 2006

38. One of the most -- I think one of the most important and interesting domestic initiatives, which I agree has created an interesting philosophical debate, is to allow faith-based programs and community-based programs to access federal money in order to achieve the results we all want. I mean, for example, if you're trying to encourage people to quit drinking, doesn't it make sense to give people somebody an alternative -- he can maybe go to a government counselor? Or how about somebody who calls upon a higher being to help you quit drinking? All I care about is the results. Sterling, Virginia, Jan. 19, 2006

39. Every new citizen of the United States has an obligation to learn our customs and values, including liberty and civic responsibility, equality under God and tolerance for others, and the English language. Tucson, Arizona, Nov. 28, 2005

40. We have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom, and America will always be faithful to that cause. Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2005

41.Secondly, it's really important, Pete, that people not think government is a loving entity. Government is law and justice. Love comes from the hearts of people that are able to impart love. And therefore, what Craig is doing is -- he doesn't realize it -- he's a social entrepreneur. He is inspiring others to continue to reach out to say to somebody who is lonely, I love you. And I'm afraid this requires a higher power than the federal government to cause somebody to love somebody.

42. We don't believe that freedom is America's gift to the world. We believe freedom is the God Almighty's gift to each and every person in the world. California, Oct. 15, 2003

43. I believe that, as I told the Crown Prince, the Almighty God has endowed each individual on the face of the earth with -- that expects each person to be treated with dignity. This is a universal call. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Jun. 3, 2003

44. All of you -- all in this generation of our military -- have taken up the highest calling of history. You're defending your country, and protecting the innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope -- a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "To the captives, 'come out,' -- and to those in darkness, 'be free.' Aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, a couple of miles away from San Diego May 1, 2003

45. It's so inspirational to see your courage, as well as to see the great works of our Lord in your heart. Nashville, Tennessee, Feb. 10, 2003

46. As Dick mentioned, we mourn the loss of seven brave souls. We learned a lot about them over the last couple of days, and Laura and I learned a lot about their families in Houston, because we met with them. My impressions of the meeting was that there was -- that Almighty God was present in their hearts. Washington, D.C., Feb. 6, 2003

47. It's also important for people to know we never seek to impose our culture or our form of government. We just want to live under those universal values, God-given values. Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2002

48. Yet we do know that God has placed us together in this moment, to grieve together, to stand together, to serve each other and our country. Ellis Island, New York, Sep. 11, 2002

49. The reason I'm -- asked [these AmeriCorps workers] to join us here is because I want you to know, America can be saved one person at a time. Green Tree, Pennsylvania, Aug. 5, 2002

50. Government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope into people's hearts. It cannot put faith into people's lives. West Ashley High School, Charleston, South Carolina, Jul. 29, 2002

Source www.dubyaspeak.com