Dawkins Makes the Rounds

Richard Dawkins has a new book out, The God Delusion. Here he is on Hufpost , BBC, and Colbert.


I'm someone who thinks Jesus is Santa Claus for adults, and I'm very intrigued by how easily people reject the overwhelming scientific evidence for evolution in favor of superstitious faith. At the same time, it's intriguing to me that folks like Dennett, Harris, and Dawkins are so up in arms about religion. They think everyone in the world should be as rational as they are.

Extinguishing the idea of God is as likely as extinguishing the idea of red. Like Voltaire said, "If we didn't have God, we would have to invent him."

Humans are hardwired to expect that animate agents are behind the actions of the world. We need to be alert to danger. Just as it's easy for us to see faces and animals in clouds, it's easy for us to anthropomorphize predators and prey, as well as objects like cars, and rocks, and the Universe as a whole. Dawkins even anthropomorphizes genes. He says they're "selfish."

One of the most important challenges posed by Dawkins is to question how the world would be different if God existed. Consider the question, “Does life have a purpose?” For the religious person, the answer is “yes” if there is a God, “no” if not.

I can’t speak for Dawkins or the others, but as a scientifically-oriented person I concur with the religious person’s answer. That’s how I know I’m free. I make my own purpose. I form my own intention. We as humans can do the same collectively. We’re not sheep who need a shepherd just to find our way to shelter.