Aphorism

Surprised myself by forming a rather good Aphorism today whilst talking to cyberkitten about the new series on Channel four tonight by Professor Richard Dawkins - The Root of all Evil?

The Aphorism is

I'd rather be sure in knowledge than ignorant in belief.

I thought perhaps I had heard it somewhere and was just repeating someone elses words overheard, but I have spent a good hour searching the internet and books this evening and can find no record of anyone saying it. I have to say I'm rather impressed with myself...Smug Mode engaged :o)

anyway back to Professor Dawkin's series. My first contact and knowledge of Professor Dawkins was seeing him give the annual Royal Institution Children's Lecture in 1991; the subject was Evolution. He is a fantastic teacher, author, orator and scientific explorer.

The British Royal Institution Christmas Lectures have been held annually since 1825. They serve as a forum for presenting complex scientific issues to young people in an informative and entertaining manner. In the mid 1820s Michael Faraday, a former Director of the Royal Institution, initiated the first Christmas Lecture series at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. He presented a total of 19 series, establishing an exciting new venture of teaching science to young people that was eventually copied by other institutions internationally.

The Christmas Lectures have continued annually since this time, stopping only during World War 2. Many world famous scientists have given the lectures, including Baroness Susan Greenfield (the current Director of the Royal Institution), naturalist David Attenborough, and Nobel Laureate George Porter.

Here is a precis of the first program's content.... I am watching it as I blog, and I urge anyone interested in the debate on belief in any given religion god or faith, or the evil acts that religion allows people to carry out in it's name to watch it, I hope this get repeated both here in the UK, and across the world. Mrs.Aginoth has posted here about it


Episode 1: The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins is astounded that religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth based on hard evidence. Julia Bard reports

In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. Dawkins is well known for bringing to a wide audience the complex scientific concepts that underpin evolution. His first book, The Selfish Gene was an international bestseller.

Truth lies and faith
He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science.

In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress – to become more enlightened and more tolerant.

At the extremes
He explores the state of the three Abrahamic religions in the world today, from the political influence of rich and powerful Christian fundamentalist institutions in America to the deadly clash of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Middle East. He describes the Holy Land as the least enlightened place in the world, a microcosm of the threat to rational values and civilisation posed by religion, whose irrational roots, he says, are nourishing intolerance and murder.

There are plenty of characters to illustrate his thesis. There are fanatics, like the former West Bank settler who has taken the small step of converting from Jewish fundamentalist to Muslim fundamentalist, transferring his hatred from one side of the looking glass to the other. And the frighteningly charismatic leader of America's National Association of Evangelicals, who believes he has been chosen by God to convert Americans through religious gatherings that resemble rock concerts – though to Dawkins they feel more reminiscent of Nuremberg rallies.

Then there are the desperate, like those carrying burdens of disability or disease, who are among the 80,000 people a year who make the pilgrimage to Lourdes. Dawkins does the maths: out of the millions who, over a century, have placed their faith in a miracle restoring them to good health, there have been only 66 authenticated cures. This is hardly a strong record, he says, arguing that it is better for us to embrace truth than false hope.

A sense of belonging
Drawing on such examples, it is not difficult to demolish the claims of religion as fairytales, and dangerous ones at that. But there is more to religion than ancient stories and articles of faith. Dawkins touches on the sense of belonging promised by religious groups but dismisses this as 'seductive group solidarity', which he describes as a 'shared delusion'. In doing so, he glances off the more subtle dilemmas of how religions and religious traditions are woven through people's notions of 'community', 'history' and 'identity'.

Having a sense of one's place in the world is important to everyone but has particular significance for minorities and peoples under political, economic or military pressure. Individuals may even accept Dawkins' atheistic and scientific deconstruction of the myths they have grown up with but still defend and nurture the matrix of institutions, practices and relationships which make them who they are.

So What did I think of it, it was good to finally see the atheist/non-believers standpoint put forward so well on mainstream television.

It makes me proud to live in a country where we have the freedom to be able to watch such a program and make up our own minds. I very much doubt that such a program could ever be shown in the USA due to the vociferous Religious element that seems to be gaining a greater and greater hold on the American culture and thought processes.

I have been involved on many occasions with many people over the Evil that religion causes otherwise good people to perpetrate. I find it impossible to understand how otherwise intelligent people can be swayed to commit atrocities in the name of an imaginary higher being (of whatever denomination) by what amounts to a set of myths passed down over several hundred years (and some stupid ones as well mind you, but that's more easily understood)