Richard Dawkins
"A Devil's Chaplain."

The world would be better off without religion
Religion is so ingrained in society that it's like a computer virus

"That's right. That's the way it feels."

A collection of essays
Oxford professor Richard Dawkins is a fierce critic of religion
He challenges attempts to ascribe design to the universe or purpose to life


Laura Sheahen interviewed Richard Dawkins about his collection of essays.





We can seek more altruistic, sympathetic, artistic things that have nothing to do with the preservation of our selfish genes—and thank goodness we can.

Sheahen: And people can pursue these goals—like altruistic ones, without benefit of religion?


Sheahen: You seem to agree with E.O. Wilson that science can be a satisfying replacement for religion.

Dawkins: Yes, I've written a book to that effect: "Unweaving the Rainbow."

Sheahen: What about intelligent people who accept evolution and do marvel at scientific advances (and perhaps were raised without much religion), but who suddenly find themselves wanting more—wanting a specifically religious dimension to their lives that science can't fill?

Dawkins: Well, I've never met one. I've met plenty of people who call themselves religious, but when you actually probe, when you ask them in detail what they believe, it turns out to be this very same awe and wonder that Wilson and Einstein talked about. If they're genuinely intelligent, it does not involve the supernatural. Unless they were brought up that way—but you were careful to say people who were not brought up religious.




Sheahen: Not even something like the Sistine Chapel?



Dawkins: I love Yeats, Housman, Keats, Shakespeare, Mozart, Schubert above all, Beethoven.


Dawkins: I don't know very much about them, but I suspect the answer is yes. One of the most salient stories of all three Abrahamic religions—the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac—is such an utterly disgusting story, yet it is iconic for all three religions.
It's disgustingly cruel, a story of child abuse and violence.



Sheahen: So if people lived according to rationalism, you envision, for example, no more war?

Dawkins: That might be a little bit optimistic, but there would be a much better chance of no more war. Obviously nothing like 9/11, because that's clearly motivated by religion. There would be less hatred, because a lot of the hatred in the world is sectarian hatred. For example, in Northern Ireland, India and Pakistan. You wouldn't have an awful lot of the prejudice and trans-generational vendettas that humanity suffers from. There would be less waste of time. People would concentrate on really worthwhile things, instead of wasting time on religion, astrology, crystal-gazing, fortune-telling, things like that.

Sheahen: Some might see the situation in Northern Ireland not as religious, but as class conflicts. The haves vs. the have-nots. There are struggles where religion isn't a factor—in America, whites vs. blacks, even if both groups were, say, Southern Baptist.

Dawkins: That's absolutely right. But the thing about religious labels is that they're gratuitous; there's no need for them to be there. You can't do anything about your skin color, but religion could go.

Sheahen: You also say critics of religion must speak up and not "tiptoe" around questions of religious belief.

Dawkins: Yes. In any other field, you can argue about politics, taste in music, poetry. There's never the feeling that you're supposed to tiptoe away. You're just not allowed to criticize someone's belief if it's a religious belief, though you're perfectly allowed if it's about politics.

I would like to raise people's consciousness against this feeling that religion deserves respect simply because it is religion. The essay in the book that most discusses this is called "Dolly and the Cloth Heads." It discusses the tendency of broadcast media, for example, to ask clergy to appear and give their opinion, whenever there's any controversial issue like abortion, simply because they represent those religions. Whereas other people have to earn the right to have their opinion asked by having something sensible to say.

Sheahen: You say religion is so ingrained in society that it's like a computer virus. Can it really be eradicated?

Dawkins: Only by education and reason. If people realize that it might be a virus, and saw its resemblance to a virus, they might say, "That's right. That's the way it feels." It's teaching people to think for themselves, rather than just believe and take things on faith.

Thanks to J. Spurgeon for the suggestion

Oxford professor Richard Dawkins

Many thanks to Laura Sheahen for this interesting interview.
If you wish to read more about any religion click here

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