Don’t Damn Me!

I’ve been hearing about this Richard Dawkins for quite some time, on the internet forums i post on, on TV, radio, etc. The people who usually quote him are dogmatic atheists, hypocritical and just as religious as any religion they berate.

Now i know why.

I downloaded the audio book of Richard Dawkins – The God Delusion. And started listening this morning, after finding out my Dentist’s appointment had been cancelled.

• Preface

The first part of the book is the preface, and to be honest, after hearing it i didn’t really want to go any further (although i did).

The preface is full of hypocritical statements, self-serving revelery and the kind of re-assurances you’d expect from someone who spends a lot of time in therapy.

The funniest line in the preface, for me, spoken by Richard himself, is when he states that he hopes any believers who read this book, will be atheists by the time they finish. After telling us how indoctrination is the enemy of the people, because it’s one of the major reasons for religious beliefs. Hypocrite much?

He then tells the reader how so many of the worlds best minds are atheist. As if that somehow lends weight to the argument, making sure to add that to be atheist is to have a healthy mind. Thus telling us that if you’re not atheist, you aren’t of a healthy mind. Again, nothing different from religion itself, using the same “us and them” tactics, claiming that if you’re a good person, or an intelligent person, you’ll choose the right way, which also happens to be the way of the person preaching. Richard in this case.

• Continued reading

Reluctantly i continued with the book, making it to the 2nd chapter, before finally giving up.

It appears to me that Richard is someone who hates religion, which is fair enough, i couldn’t care less what he believes. But through that hatred of religion, he’s made it a religion in and of itself, to push on the global masses, to look down his nose on anything or anyone who doesn’t agree.

Indeed, he’s quick to align himself to the great minds he quotes, even making sure we understand he’s not saying the God of Einstein and other physicists (or other great minds) is delusional, only Gods which are presumed supernatural.

The God that is nature, wonderment, mysteries of the universe, etc are all fine. Because they’re ok in the circles of Stephen Hawking, et al. And clearly smart people can’t be delusional.

• Religion is bad, M’kay?

Of course there’s the usual “religion is bad because of all the things it causes”, and as per usual, the troubles in Northern Ireland are mentioned. He even complains that words like “nationalist” and “loyalist” are used instead of “catholic” and “protestant”, as if to hide the true nature of the problem and the fact that religion is the cause.

He fails to understand that the reason words like nationalist and loyalist are used, is because the problem is far from being a religious one. It’s a man-kind problem. Religion is merely the vehicle, the excuse, the reason given when someone is pushed to explain their atrocities.

If a man rapes, tortures and murders 12 women in a weekend of unadulterated mentalism, then claims God told him to do it, while he was watching Eastenders, do we then deduce that the problem is religion?

If not, then why would we deduce it when a lot of men go out and shoot and bomb their way through opposing factions of society, then claim it was for God?

Mankind has always been guilty of these actions, regardless of how far back you go.

Cavemen would gather in caves, in their respective clans, warring with opposing clans from other caves, should they cross paths. They would fight over resources, women, and just for the sheer hell of it. Was religion to blame for this too?

When animals fight over territory, mating rights, food, is this about religion too?

• Religion isn’t the root of all evil.

Dawkins is happy to point out that he doesn’t blame religion for all of the worlds evil, after all, as he says, nothing is the root cause for all things.

But this seems to be empty words, when compared to the things he actually is saying.

His main reasoning for religion being bad, and causing a lot of the worlds woes, is things like injustice in the world around us, where religion and it’s followers get special treatment, special allowances, etc.

Free speech is limited to speech that isn’t hateful, yet religious speech isn’t, and it’s ok to say “Fags are going to hell and are an abomination”, whereas it’s not ok to say “Fags are freaks”.

But the problem with this isn’t just because of religion, it’s a matter of majority rule.

Religion – The Scapegoat

The fact is religion accounts for quite a large part of society, in each country. The religion itself isn’t a living entity, it’s merely a grouping of people with similar beliefs, trying to do what they believe is right, regardless of it’s being right or not. So of course it’s flawed, and of course it can lead to problems. But the problems aren’t caused by religion, they’re caused by the followers, who are merely people, and as we see all around the world, non-religious people cause problems too. So why blame religion, when man is just as flawed without it?

I know of many people who aren’t religious, but find homosexuality disgusting. But because society is changing, hopefully for the better, it has been deemed a bad thing to judge people because of their sexuality, and make them suffer because of it. Some will take longer to educate than others, as is always the way.

There are non-religious people who still hate homosexuality, and homosexuals, but because religion holds more weight in a given country, than say a bunch of rednecks, people seem to think the problem itself lies within religion. This just doesn’t make sense.

It would be like a man cheating on his wife, and rightfully being judged on his actions, by society. Then the week after, the Labour Party Prime Minister being caught doing the same thing, but rather than judging the man for his actions, instead judging the Labour Party.

If a man chooses to wear a T-shirt proclaiming homosexuals to be abominations and disgusting, it’s because that man is a hateful entity. The fact that he justifies it because the bible says homosexuality is wrong, is neither here nor there. The bible also says lies are sin, but the same man isn’t out in the street wearing T-shirts about how liars are abominations. There are also many Christians (for the sake of this argument) who although they don’t agree with homosexuality, aren’t hateful to homosexuals, instead choosing to follow the teaching of the bible which states “hate the sin, love the sinner”.

I had downloaded 2 books by Mr. Dawkins, but needless to say, i can’t be arsed to read any more of him. It’s just pointless. The man is guilty of that he hates so much when he looks at religion. He’s a hypocrite of the highest order. He might well claim he’s a happy and proud atheist, but the fact he spends so much time hating on religion and it’s followers, says otherwise to me. He’s no happier than the religious zealot who sees nothing but evil in the non-religious or those who follow a religion different than their own.

He may well be proud to be an atheist, but is pride really that good? Pride is one of the catalysts that causes problems within religion. Believing in a God is one thing, but when you start thinking that your God is better than everyone elses, and that you’re somehow more enlightened for knowing this and must spread the word so that others might benefit from your great wisdom, is another thing entirely. And as he said himself in the preface, he hopes that people might read his works and be converted to his way of thinking. He doesn’t say he wants them to question things, or be more open minded, he actually says he wants them to be atheists by the end of reading the book.

And thus, another hypocritical mantra is born. His writings are already splattered all over the internet, and he is hoisted on the shoulders of his followers, as some great mind, capable of socking it to religion and God himself. If he has a son, who dies at the age of 33 and comes back to life, we’re all in trouble!