Terrorism and "The God Delusion"

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fountainhall

Terrorism and "The God Delusion"

Post by fountainhall »

Thinking of the most recent barbarous acts of violence and evidence of religious extremism in Sri Lanka and Christchurch reminded me of a book I read about a dozen years ago by the atheist scientist, Richard Dawkins. Rather than add this to the Sri Lanka violence thread, I think it deserves a thread of its own.

“The God Delusion” examines each monotheistic religion in the light of science and truth. Dawkins pays particular attention to the Old Testament which all three religions regard as a foundation of their faith. The God of the OT, he suggests, has to be
“the most unpleasant character in all fiction – jealous and proud of it, vituperative, unjust, unfeeling, a racist, an ethnic cleanser urging his people to acts of genocide."
I then remembered there was a television series about the book. It is still available on the internet. So I spent some time last night watching it. Whatever your faith or whether you are an agnostic or atheist, “The God Delusion” makes many very significant points in raising many uncomfortable issues. In particular Dawkins stresses that the fundamentalists of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all dangerous and, as a result of their extremely narrow focus of the world, are all creating the conditions for further mayhem in future.

It is a long video, but there are certain parts I feel those with just a little time might wish to watch. I highlight the timings of each section along with a short summary.

2’15”–4’30”
Dawkins takes as his starting point the beliefs of Catholics making the pilgrimage to Lourdes and the number of proven miracles. He talks to a priest. The site where the Virgin Mary is alleged to have been seen has attracted pilgrims for 150 years. Today amongst its millions of visitors, some 80,000 sick pilgrims visit per year. Although no numbers are provided, the implication is that many millions of sick people have visited over time. Yet the number of confirmed cures is 66. “Statistically this adds up to no evidence at all.”

“I want to look at how the suspension of disbelief inherent in faith can lead to far more dangerous ideas beyond . . . faith demands a positive suspicion of critical faculties.”

10’47”–13’26”
He discusses the belief of all Catholics that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. Nowhere is this mentioned in the Gospels. It was merely someone’s idea, passed down by word of mouth until as a result of the passage of time it first became tradition and then was determined to be true. Finally Pope Pius XII convinced himself of that truth and declared it to be fact in 1950. But if Popes can unilaterally determine what is fact, what about future Pope’s “personal convictions when it comes to discouraging the use of condoms in AIDS-ridden Africa? Then the power of the Church through tradition, authority and revelation comes with an appalling human cost . . . All religions are up to the same tricks. It could be Muslim Imam’s issuing fatwahs. It is issued by the authority and then passes down through the ranks to parents and children – and all without a shred of evidence.”

20’10” - 29’58”
Dawkins then goes on to look at fundamentalist Christianity. “It is on the rise in the world’s only superpower . . . (despite all the evidence) 45% of Americans, about 135 million people, believe the universe is less than 10,000 years old.” In a fascinating interview he tackles issues with an Evangelical pastor. There is then an unsurprising yet disturbing development at the end of this clip.

40’48 –45’00”
Now comes Islam and a revealing interview with a Jewish American who moved to Israel and become a radical Muslim. This is genuinely frightening.

48’28”-50’49”
“Irrational faith is fueling murderous intolerance throughout the world.” Dawkins believes this in large measure is a result of sectarian education which is on the rise and has left a terrible legacy. “When you think about it, isn’t it weird that we automatically label a tiny child with its parents’ religion? . . . But what’s so special about religion that it is allowed to label small children Catholic or Protestant, Jewish or Muslim? Nobody would categorise children by the political party their parents’ support. We agree they are too young to know where they stand on questions of politics.” Why therefore religion? Why isolate the young child’s mind? Why not explain rationally the other faiths before letting them make up their own minds as they grow older?

51’00”-54’45”
He examines the closed world of Hassidic Jews whose children attend very exclusive schools, cloistered away from external influences. “These children are being brought up in a very distorted world . . . I worry about children being victims of this kind of mis-education . . . These innocent children are being saddled with demonstrable falsehoods. And it is not just a problem of the Jewish minority.”

57’10”-59’53”
Dawkins interviews the headmaster of an English faith school which brings religion into the teaching of science. Then, he visits one of the “hell boxes” run by American fundamentalist Churches where plays are presented illustrating the punishments due to those who commit adultery and homosexuals. The punishment for such sins is a very graphic description of hell ever after.

1:11’52”-1:14’12”
He illustrates examples of the immorality contained in the Bible, including what we would regard as a dreadful story from the Book of Judges.

1:14’49”-1:16’18”
He agrees that the New Testament is a more moral and enlightened document until, that is, “until it all goes wrong. The heart of NT theology invented after Jesus’ death is St. Paul’s nasty sado-masochistic doctrine of atonement for original sin – not just the original sin of Adam and Eve but future sins as well, whether we decide to commit them or not.”

He conducts an interview with a seemingly rational fundamentalist preacher whose good friend was convicted and executed for killing a doctor who ran abortion clinic. He closes with a discussion with an expert in the behaviour of chimpanzees whose behaviour is in many ways similar to that of humans. I will leave his conclusions for those willing to watch the full programme.

Conclusion

As a scientist and an atheist, it is understandable that Dawkins would have a well-thought through narrative to back up his claim that those believing in religion are simply “barking mad”. Certainly all the monotheistic religions. He does, though, provide a convincing argument that all religions are responsible for the many divisions in our world and that these are bound to continue.

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Re: Terrorism and "The God Delusion"

Post by Undaunted »

....

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"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
fountainhall

Re: Terrorism and "The God Delusion"

Post by fountainhall »

Fair point - but then people who eat bacon are just as likely to kill themselves after committing a massacre. Little difference in my view.
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