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Richard Dawkins has a new new book out called the Magic of Reality. Doing the promotional rounds in the UK and the US must promote a certain amount of cognitive dissonance for Dawkins as the calibre of the questions he faces varies a great deal depending on which side of the Atlantic he’s on. Compare and contrast, my faithful readership, the two interviews conducted with Dawkins, one by the BBC and the other by Fox News.
As a North American, the second interview makes me ashamed to share the same continent with ‘commentators’ that espouse the merits of bronze age wisdom in the 21st century.
Sometimes the weather works in your favour. This video by Concordance is a perfect example of just such an occasion.
Perhaps the good governor will pray for atheists next time. :)
[ed. I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Bleatmop to Dead Wild Roses as a guest columnist. Please welcome him, and I would like to extend my thanks for his time in preparing this post (and hopefully more to come).]
Earlier this year, shortly after Easter, several co-workers and I were sitting around the coffee table and the grandmothers of the group were discussing having Easter with their grandchildren. One of the stories struck me as both being particularly poignant to myself and ironic as to how the teller of the story interpreted the lesson of what happened. Before I can elaborate further first I will outline what happened.
Coworker Grandma (CWG) had a wonderful Easter with her daughter and grandchildren. The eldest grandchild met her at her vehicle and tried to help her bring in her stuff. She was just about to grab one box when CWG told her it was ok and sent her off inside. She did this of course because it was vital that her granddaughter not see inside that box; for inside that box was all the Easter candy that she and her daughter were going to hide that night for her grandchildren to find in the morning. Her eldest grandchild was just at that age where she might know that the Easter bunny wasn’t real, but as of yet she still believed. CWG so wanted to watch the child’s wonder as she discovered all the hidden treasures left by the Easter Bunny just this one last time.
All seemed well though, her granddaughter went inside and no more was said about the contents of the box. That night CWG and her daughter hid candy all around the house and in the morning the children woke up with a SQUEEEE and the race was on to find the best bits of candy. Needless to say a good time was had by all. However, later that day when CWG and her daughter were in the kitchen preparing the evening feast, her granddaughter came in carrying her chocolate bunny, a bunny that just happened to be at the top of the box yesterday afternoon.
“Grandma, isn’t this your chocolate Bunny?”
CWG knew then the jig was up. Granddaughter had indeed saw what was in the box yesterday. She knew CWG had brought the candy. Lying was no longer an option when it came to talking about the Easter Bunny.
“It’s yours now dear”
“But it was yours and I found it hidden with all the other Easter Bunny candy earlier.” As CWG was telling me this story she acted out the confusion on her granddaughters face at that time. Then she acted out the surprise and outrage when she asked “Did the Easter Bunny steal it”
“No Dear” Not wanting to drag this out any further, nor attract the attention of the other younger children she called granddaughter closer and whispered to her “The Easter Bunny isn’t real. It’s been your mom and me that have been hiding all the candy all these years”
CWG then went on to act out the look of shock and described how she could see the gears just grinding behind her eyes, processing what she had just been told.
“Does that mean Santa is fake too”
CWG was so into the acting then that she covered her face with her hand in the staff room as I imagine that she did just a week prior and let out in a gasp.
“Yes”
“Does that mean God is fake too”
CWG continued to be so engrossed with acting out this story that she sat up straight, got a stern look on her face, gave a deliberate shake of her head.
“No dear, God is definitely real”
And this is what I found to be both poignant and ironic. CWG’s granddaughter quickly processed the information that had been given to her. The Easter Bunny, of whom she only had her parents assurances that it was real was suddenly not real. She quickly translated that into other things that she had similar evidence for. The first obviously being Santa, an equally fictitious tale and then to God, an equally fictitious tale. In all three tales, the only evidence for said tales was the assurances of those she loved that said tales exist and man made constructs of its proof (such as candy, presents or a church). It really amazed me how this child could take the lesson learned from one situation and apply to all other similar situations in her life so quickly and easily.
The ironic part is that the CWG had the same evidence and could even understand why her granddaughter put all three of those tales together as the same, but still was convinced that God was real and that Santa and the Easter Bunny were not. One wonders how she made those distinctions.
It has been a stressful week here at DWR central. So be prepared for a video heavy/prose light week this upcoming week.
The Disservice today is a short clip from the show Dexter on religion and belief. It’s nice to see television media approaching the question of religion and atheism.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a believer? To put the mythology before reality, place higher regard for fiction over fact? This clip shows a ‘man on the street’ interviewer with a desperately poor couple, begging for money in front of a big box retailer. The interviewer offers them $20 dollars if they cross the word “god” off their sign.
They refuse. Their belief in the sky fairy and what would happen if they went against them directly affected their immediate physical future. Apparently, a hot meal for little Timmy, is not worth hazarding god’s wrath. Watch now and see how holding delusional beliefs are dangerous not only to you, but those around you.
This is why we campaign so strongly here at DWR against the purulence that is christianity and religion in general. Sacrificing the welfare of your child for your belief in magic is unconscionable. Make no mistake, it is religion that is at fault here and it should be done away with as soon as possible.
Why all the hate on christianity? We get often get that question here at DWR. Here is a little sampling of why we take christianity and religion in general to task. Short version: religion is bad for you and those around you.
I’m feeling a bit under the weather, and brevity will be the theme of the upcoming posts, but then I stumbled on this gem of a video from the Living Dinosaur. Seeing that it would fit in nicely with today’s theme of how repulsive religion actually is please enjoy TLD’s take down of a popular creationist nutbar Casey Luskin. It’s long, but entirely worth your time.
Distribute freely my pretties! Spread the word. :)
bleatmop
Mystro
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