Secularism - Richard Dawkins
Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 3.11.2
The Rise of Secularism: Richard Dawkins
Dawkins argues that religion is not based upon rationality but is the product of wishful thinking and blind faith.
Teapot sun analogy
- Dawkins likens belief in God to randomly supposing that there is a teapot circling the sun (an example that was first used by Bertrand Russell).
- Dawkins believes that there is simply no reason to believe in God’s existence and plenty of contrary evidence such as the existence of evil.
- Philosophical arguments for the problem of evil as disproving God’s existence come from Mackie and, originally, Epicurus.
Dangers of religion
- Dawkins argues that religion is not only blind and irrational but also dangerous.
- It causes wars, misery, death and prevents the progress of science.
- People commit suicide in the name of religion and destroy other people, including unbelievers and those of different faiths, in the process.
Concerned with fundamentalism
- Dawkins is concerned by the rise of Christian fundamentalism.
- This approach causes the greatest harm to scientific advancement about the origin of the universe.
Anti-creationists
- Dawkins acknowledges: “I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”
- Dawkins has creationists in mind, who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and think that evolution is false.
- Creationists typically refuse to accept science when they think it conflicts with their interpretation of the Bible.
Test yourself on Secularism - Richard Dawkins
What did Dawkins NOT highlight as a danger of religion?