Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins: how a scientist changed the way we think is to be published shortly to commemorate 30 years since the publicatiion of Dawkins' imfamous Selfish Gene. Dawkins is an evangelist for atheism and is one of the talking heads the media - in the UK at least - wheel out when they like some soundbites regarding religion and science. What is suprising is the Dawkins is the professor of public understanding of science and yet still hold to an out-moded view of science!



My friend Mark Roques - who hasn't yet got a blog, but should - has recently written this brief piece on Dawkins:

Richard Dawkins and Reason

In recent articles about Richard Dawkins and his crusade against ‘religion’ no-one has noticed that Dawkins is committed to a worldview that destroys rationality and scientific objectivity. He claims on numerous occasions to be the very voice of ‘reason’ and the sneering opponent of ‘religion’. This is abject nonsense.

For Dawkins humans are a gathering of selfish genes. Each gene has its own craving for survival. Reality is nothing but a vast collection of genes pulling in different directions. If we buy into this aggressive dogma then we are forced to conclude that our own existence is illusory. At the end of the day reality is a barren wasteland of deceiving, little liars who resemble Alphonse Capone and Jimmy ‘The Weasel’ Fratianno. Selfish genes are masters of spin, manipulation and illusion. Organised crime flourishes in every nook and cranny of this Darwinian universe.

Press home the implications of the deceiving gene and scientific rationality vanishes in a puff of smoke. We do not believe anything because it is true. We believe what we believe because gifted con-artists (selfish genes) control and tyrannise our intellectual activities. Reason is not autonomous; it is merely the by-product of genetic crime.

Dawkins should remind us of the Greek god Cronus who swallowed his own children. His selfish gene theory devours both science and reason.

Mark Roques

Two good books dealing with Dawkins are:

• Alister McGrath Dawkins' God (Blackwell, 2004)
• Roger Steer Letter to an Influential Atheist (Authentic, 2003)

Alister McGrath has a mp3 of his lecture on Dawkins, 'Has science eliminated God?'