1. Comment #143805 by Ragnar0kk on March 14, 2008 at 12:44 pm

sweet love the Dawkins audio!

[though i must admit Alan Combs is an absolute tool and career doormat for the bible thumping Sean Hannity]

edit: To clarify i have no problem with Alan Combs, he is a reasonable person. However, the character that he plays on the fictional and blatantly biased news program "Hannity & Combs" is a veritable punching bag for the pompous and ignorant Sean Hannity (who happens to be one of the stupidest commentators in the history of television).

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2. Comment #143810 by Matt H. on March 14, 2008 at 12:54 pm

I seem to remember Alan Colmes being VERY reasonable when Richard was on his show last year. Some may remember it for featuring a few infamous callers, many refusing to accept evolution, one going as far to say if he didn't believe in a god, he would go out and kill people.

I'll listen to this new one with interest. Thanks.

Edit: Wow, I'm about half way through, I nearly splurted out my drink when Richard swore! The only other time I've ever heard him swear was at Beyond Belief 06, I think, and then he was only quoting someone else! Heh heh, was so funny though, swearing on Fox Radio!

Edit 2: Finished. It was a shame about the behaviour of some of the callers, but I guess the filtering people wanted to keep things interesting. Only one creationist though, so that's promising. And as for the woman who thinks Americans don't have a constitutional right to insult.... haha!

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3. Comment #143825 by bokke2007 on March 14, 2008 at 1:27 pm

haha RD said "bullsh*t". awesome! that creationist retard got exactly what he deserved.

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4. Comment #143834 by ricey on March 14, 2008 at 1:40 pm

One caller asked "Why is Christianity the religion? How come it has survived and no-one has been able to usurp it?"

Glad Richard finally got the point across that religion is regional; like body colour and height, etc.

Dosen't say much for Fox's listening public - thought the host was good though, so listen if you haven't heard it yet.

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5. Comment #143837 by Epinephrine on March 14, 2008 at 1:46 pm

I'm surprised RD didn't smack down the "why are we still talking about Jesus" moron a little faster. He could have made him sound pretty stupid by asking him if he's heard of Heracles, and asking why that particular myth is also still around, and pointing out that Vishnu, Mohammed, Indra and many other myths are likewise still prevalent, and that it doesn't make any of them true.

Oh, and the poor uppity little old lady who was so offended that Dawkins feels that intelligent people wouldn't be religious. He's implying she's stupid! And she clearly isn't, because she prays with doctors! How can a doctor be stupid?!?

My goodness, the number of well educated morons I've met... in case you are reading this, little old religious lady:

Education doesn't indicate or even correlate that well with intelligence. There are many very bright people with no formal education, and many very well educated people with little intelligence.

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6. Comment #143854 by greenlol on March 14, 2008 at 2:08 pm

Terrific stuff from RD as usual. One thing troubles me slightly. He was clearly losing patience very quickly with the callers and going on these shows he maybe needs to stick to the incredible politeness that he is famous for. It is quite understable that he feels fit to explode; after all there is SUCH a gulf in his position on god, religion and the like and the position of people who say they believe in that stuff.

One more thing ... for an American radio host I thought he was almost reverential to RD.

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7. Comment #143855 by pkruger on March 14, 2008 at 2:10 pm

Richard was at his intellectual, charming and eloquent best here. Among his highlights was his hitting the nail on the head description of creationists insistence that "No transitional fossils exist!"

Colmes was ok, seemed to like to listen to himself talk somewhat more than he should have, but his tussle with Zelda about "it's completely constitutional to be offensive" was priceless.

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8. Comment #143856 by Linda on March 14, 2008 at 2:11 pm

Richard,
You are running out of patience with those that IMO seem more like feral animals than intelligent, inquisitive humans. Thanks for this fun interview. It made me laugh.
Best, LindaWS

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9. Comment #143861 by knutsondc on March 14, 2008 at 2:14 pm

The lady who was "offended" by RD's comment didn't listen very well. RD said that studies showed a correlation between education and lack of religious belief. He also said that he suspected that Barack Obama, as an intelligent, modern, sophisticated person probably did not believe in the personal God of the church Obama attends. That's not the same as saying that people who attend church or synagogue cannot possibly be educated or intelligent, which is what the "offended" caller seemed to think RD was saying.

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10. Comment #143866 by ClemIsMe on March 14, 2008 at 2:17 pm

Wow. I mean, man, wow.

Given that talk radio is not what it was even a few years ago, and given that it was always populated by a certain almost predictable set of character types, you really have to stand in awe and wonder that they can dial phones. Humans, truly, are wonderful and complex creatures.

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11. Comment #143870 by AllanW on March 14, 2008 at 2:23 pm

Yep, enjoyed that. Colmes was a good host (not too intrusive and not ignorantly provocative) so it went well.

The callers were hilarious; creationist got smacked down (bullshit! Spoken by Dawkins! lol), religiot got told he is only Christian because he was born in the US (basically) and the snobby jewish lady left in a huff! Classic!

Well done Richard.

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12. Comment #143874 by Quine on March 14, 2008 at 2:29 pm

I was very glad to hear Richard state clearly that Evolution is a fact and that Natural Selection is the theory of how it happened. This needs to be repeated as many times as needed to soak through their thick skulls.

(although, I did wince a bit when he said "sure as Hell")

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13. Comment #143881 by forksmuggler on March 14, 2008 at 2:39 pm

Well, I've completely changed my opinion of Alan Colmes. I loved when he called that lady out about our constitutional right to offend! Great interview.

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14. Comment #143906 by Big City on March 14, 2008 at 3:33 pm

I'm with forksmuggler, I didn't predict his personality at all.

Christians are their own worst enemies. They make complete fools of themselves at every opportunity.
A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew.

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15. Comment #143912 by Jack Rawlinson on March 14, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Man, it's hard listening to some of those callers. The woman who was banging on about god injecting a soul into man... how can they not see the giddying a priori assumptions in such a statement? What's a "soul"? Why is it necessary that a soul needs a god to inject it? And so on. These people, sadly, are simply not very bright. Not at all competent at thinking.

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16. Comment #143919 by GBart on March 14, 2008 at 3:54 pm

How does he stand that douchebag Hannity?

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17. Comment #143929 by loki on March 14, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Richard, This was really good fun to listen too!

I now know the basics of these arguments and have heard them many times. I need no convincing, however, I still listen to these programs because I enjoy it as a sort of intellectual gladiatorial ring. Where, the gladiators of reason have all the amour and sharp weapons and the poor religious gladiators have nothing.

Why is it that although the arguments are clearly won, people still either refuse to understand them or like myself feel the need to keep hearing them. I don't feel the need to re-affirm my understanding that the world is a sphere. Anyway, interesting and entertaining, Good one richard! comedy genius.

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18. Comment #143933 by monoape on March 14, 2008 at 4:38 pm

DIRTYDUNNZ, there's a key on your keyboard that says 'Caps Lock'. Touch it once. ;)

Great interview. Good interviewer. Wonderfully confused callers. Keep it up, Richard. Every one of us needs to call out this ignorance and you're providing an inspirational example.

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19. Comment #143935 by DetpackJump on March 14, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Those callers were pretty special.

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20. Comment #143938 by notsobad on March 14, 2008 at 5:12 pm

some random redneck:
"There are no transitional fossils.."

You just burnt them in your pick-up you fucking ignoramus.

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21. Comment #143941 by notsobad on March 14, 2008 at 5:24 pm

Those callers were pretty special.

Just like Jesus would want it...

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22. Comment #143943 by FightingFalcon on March 14, 2008 at 5:26 pm

There are days that I question Dawkins' tactics and whether they are the best way to go about eradicating - to paraphrase him - Bronze Age myths that continue to survive in the 21st Century.

Then there are moments like now when I remember the idiocy that we are up against and the only reaction that one can possibly have toward it.

A constitutional right to not be offended? No transitional fossils? Christianity wouldn't survive for 2000 years if it wasn't true? UGH!

I was, of course, waiting for Dawkins to point out that there are religions out there older than Christianity. By definition, don't they have to be true as well? After all, that caller was insinuating that the legitimacy of a belief system is based solely on its longevity.

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23. Comment #143947 by FinnHawk on March 14, 2008 at 5:32 pm

THE MORMONS!!! That would have been one of the best examples to bring up to that guy's argument about Jesus and Christianity standing the test of time. Look how many Mormons believe that God spoke to Joseph Smith, and his stories about Jews travelling to North America and battling the Indians and Jesus visiting North America. And he only lived a few hundred years ago. Is it so hard to fathom that there were people like Joseph Smith living thousands of years ago and their "stories" could have survived and generated an even greater number of believers because at the time there was no media or printing press to document more accurately what ACTUALLY happened.

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24. Comment #143951 by Coelacanth on March 14, 2008 at 5:57 pm

Great show! I too recall the last Colmes interview with Dr. Dawkins (I think it was in the fall of '06). Anyone who listened to that show will certainly remember the nutcase who said that he would kill his neighbor if there was no god. The old lady who tried to rationalize faith and reason by saying that "god injected a soul somewhere along the way" is probably referring to Pope Pius XII's encyclial "Humani Generis" (1950) where he postulates this idiotic idea. I was raised catholic and even attended catholic seminary in the Vatican for six years. My own experience testifies that it is impossible for faith and reason to coinicide on any scientific question. Pope Pius XII's lame attempt to reconcile the two falls flat on its face. The same holds true for the late Pope John Paul II in his masterpiece of obscurification entitled "Fides et Ratio".

Colmes is a great interviewer and you have to feel sorry for him for being Sean Hannity's foil character on the blatantly biased Hannity and Colmes show. I hope Fox News pays him well for all the crap he has to put up with from Sean.

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25. Comment #143953 by Koreman on March 14, 2008 at 6:00 pm

Excellent. It's a pity is that logic and arguments don't seem to affect certain people. I guess it's not cool to realize that your life has been run by parental superstition, con artists with nice salaries, and records of prehistorical schizophrenics.

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26. Comment #143955 by animavisual on March 14, 2008 at 6:07 pm

That last caller was something else.
It's as if he's never heard of a historic precedent for politicians to use religion as a means to control people...but I suppose that comes from a lifetime of reading doctored textbooks that would make the North Korean authorities blush.

It's also great to see Professor Dawkins loosening up a bit in interviews. At least by the sound of his voice, it seems he's having more fun.

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27. Comment #143956 by chuckgoecke on March 14, 2008 at 6:10 pm

This was the first time I've heard Alan by himself. He's a great guy and very level headed, and it comes out perfectly when he's by himself. Put him with Hannity, and the avalanche of moronic drivel is so great, that Alan is overwhelmed. Alan needs to stiffen up his backbone and call the Fox morons out more often on the TV show.

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28. Comment #143958 by Quine on March 14, 2008 at 6:13 pm

You need to talk to these people in their own language. Richard should try telling them that rejecting the evidence for Evolution is like standing in the Smithsonian collection of Union/Confederate army artifacts and denying the civil war, only what the geologists and biologists have is thousands of times bigger.

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29. Comment #143960 by tony the coastie on March 14, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Well done, Professor. This is more of what America needs. Some real nut jobs live in this country.

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30. Comment #143961 by Coelacanth on March 14, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Response to Quine . . .

I think that Richard comes close to doing this in some other interview I heard. Instead of the Civil War he draws the analogy to the Roman Empire. Only a fool would suggest that there was never a Roman Empire in the face of all the archaeological eveidence we have.

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31. Comment #143963 by Quine on March 14, 2008 at 6:23 pm

These people are still sore about the US civil war; they aren't so sure about the Romans.

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32. Comment #143969 by bluebird on March 14, 2008 at 6:49 pm

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it! Nice that Colmes was able to shed that cockleburr Hannity for this radio interview.

Off Topic.... Enjoy a slice of (American) Pi Day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day

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33. Comment #143973 by Shergar on March 14, 2008 at 7:00 pm

As ever, Richard Dawkins shines as a beacon of logic, sensibility and reason â€" the other contributors to this programme are prime examples of the puerile, brainwashed masses that we all need to rally against. BTW â€" please don't remove the commercial breaks from this download as they serve to underline the inanity of the whole American zeitgeist.

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34. Comment #143984 by Ian Bamlett on March 14, 2008 at 7:36 pm

One of the better interviews I have heard recently for sure.

Just one point I would like to raise though. A number of times now Richard has said his final break with faith came with his understanding of evolution. I'm troubled, (a little - not much), by this. I have never believed in any kind of religion, and my knowledge of evolution is that of an interested amateur at best.

Is Richard really saying if he hadn't come to a full understanding of evolution he might still have faith? Doesn't this play right into the hands of the creationists who can then play the evolution = atheism card?

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35. Comment #143988 by perkyjay on March 14, 2008 at 7:46 pm

I've never seen Colmes without Hannity before. What a treat ! And what a treat RD was - he was relaxed,chatty and genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

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36. Comment #143993 by Veon on March 14, 2008 at 8:09 pm

I have to ask.
Are those commercials real or are they spoofs?

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37. Comment #143997 by Ian Bamlett on March 14, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Veon -

The commercials are real. Radio advertising in the USA is a comedy show all by itself.

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38. Comment #144000 by Veon on March 14, 2008 at 8:48 pm

That's just amazing.
I don't know if I should point in the general direction of the Americas and laugh or admire them for making commercials that would fit right into any sketch or joke.

Either way our commercials are not even half as fun.

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39. Comment #144001 by AKirkland on March 14, 2008 at 8:49 pm

I thought at first that he was being a little bit harsh/abrasive when at the start he claimed that no intelligent person could surely believe in God, which must be fairly insulting for the 85% or so Americans who believe in God... but the more guests they had on, the more I came to think that it described them perfectly :).

Good listening, although it would have been nice if they'd taken the ads out.

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40. Comment #144002 by Kimpatsu on March 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm

@epinephrine: Good point, but have you ever seen the documentary "The God who Wasn't There"? It begins with Brian Fleming interviewing Xians at a revival meeting, none of whom had heard of any of the Greco-Roman gods he names. Ignorance, for them, is proof of their godliness.

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41. Comment #144003 by WhoDatNinja on March 14, 2008 at 8:55 pm

Just one point I would like to raise though. A number of times now Richard has said his final break with faith came with his understanding of evolution. I'm troubled, (a little - not much), by this. I have never believed in any kind of religion, and my knowledge of evolution is that of an interested amateur at best.

Is Richard really saying if he hadn't come to a full understanding of evolution he might still have faith? Doesn't this play right into the hands of the creationists who can then play the evolution = atheism card?

Great point, Ian. I hadn't really thought about it in that way, but I can see how that statement could further the insane creationist position that evolution is yet another part of the 'atheist conspiracy.' I'm sure if questioned on the point Dr. Dawkins would emphasize the 'final break' part of his statement, rather than implying that his understanding of evolution was his 'frozen waterfall' of atheism.

This interview was pretty much fantastic all around, and as a result I'm going to go ahead and not hate Alan Colmes until the next time he rolls over and plays dead for Sean Hannity. So basically until tomorrow.

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42. Comment #144004 by adk on March 14, 2008 at 9:02 pm

I've only ever heard Richard lose his temper when he's asked that exact question, to show examples of transitionary fossils (or, even worse, transitionary organisms around today, as one caller demanded on a show in the UK I heard). But no wonder he does, how much more ridiculous can it get! I love the radio call-in shows though, my favourite part is hearing RD totally debunk everything that's thrown at him! Go Richard! :)

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43. Comment #144017 by hoops mccann on March 14, 2008 at 9:58 pm

greenlol: "Terrific stuff from RD as usual. One thing troubles me slightly. He was clearly losing patience very quickly with the callers and going on these shows he maybe needs to stick to the incredible politeness that he is famous for. It is quite understable that he feels fit to explode; after all there is SUCH a gulf in his position on god, religion and the like and the position of people who say they believe in that stuff. "

I think that he's finally getting fed up with ignoramuses who triumphantly spout the same tired arguments that he's disproven countless times before, show after show. They never respond thoughtfully to any of his comments (and it goes without saying, never read one of his books), but just repeat their memorized statement over and over, as if that somehow will prove that they're smarter than him. I don't think that most are even capable of comprehending his statements if they wanted to, which they don't. Dawkins has the patience of a saint (if you'll pardon the expression) but he may have dealt with one too many bozos for his own good. Trying to explain subtle ideas to people who are as dense as bricks (and openly hostile) can frustrate even the most tolerant. That he can continue to express sincerity and warmth in the face of this level of disrespect amazes me.

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44. Comment #144020 by Zzyx1170 on March 14, 2008 at 10:17 pm

I placed an mp3 of this without commercials on RapidShare at:
http://rapidshare.com/files/99641264/R.Dawkins_on_Alan_Colmes_2008.mp3

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45. Comment #144023 by rhlong on March 14, 2008 at 10:20 pm

some of the callers made me cringe. especially the lady who insisted there was a constutional right to not be insulted. wah? I just can't believe some of the wacky people here.

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46. Comment #144038 by Verylee on March 15, 2008 at 12:10 am

Ha ha Lovely! Excuse me lady, but the constitution defends my right to offend anyone!
Excuse me Mr Dawkins, but you're not allowed to say that word on this show! (Because you might offend someone?)

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47. Comment #144039 by Robb.B on March 15, 2008 at 12:29 am

I will have to listen to this when in the morning ( its 3:30 am right now) but would anyone mind postign a link to the show when Richard was first on the show too? Thanks

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48. Comment #144040 by JemyM on March 15, 2008 at 12:49 am

Thoughts:
1. The idea that good things comes to them who are good and bad things comes to them who are bad is not a good one. No matter what life you live your child might be born with cancer. Behaving good will help you to suceed in the society though but when bad luck comes about we should not blame people, we should help them.

2. The God-driven evolution tries to reconnect the branches of a tree after the roots have been demolished. The ethic monotheistic God most commonly refered to here is the biblical one and if you remove Genesis from it you remove the idea of ancestoral sin and thus Jesus forgiveness. If you do not believe in that, are there any reason for you to believe in the rest of the book? If you agree that you can treat the rest of it with a grain of salt, consider that the Bible is the source for the idea about a God. If you disconnect from the Bible you also have to disconnect from whatever attribute you assign to God that is inspired from that book.

3. Jesus was not a "good man" by todays standard and he would completely fail a run for politics with our modern morals. When you read the gospels through and through you will find him as an opportunists who when he have the upper hand behaves like a complete jerk to them who are close to him.

4. Why did the bible survive for 2000 years? It was introduced 393, the birth of Jesus was decided 531. Throughout 500 years pagans were slain and tortured in the most gruesome ways. It took an extra 700 years until the society had evolved into a state in which you did not risk the death penalty for doubting and another 2-300 years before you were guaranteed your freedom even if you started to question the authority of church. We are now living here after more than a thousand years of indoctrination and the threat of death to the ones who would not support it. Only during the 1900, as soon as people started to use their legal right to question the bible, it's number of followers started to fall like a rock and it will continue to fall until it's either gone or it's again illegal to criticize it.

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49. Comment #144070 by notsobad on March 15, 2008 at 2:44 am

Even the Crazy Cat Lady called.

And calling Jesus a great philosopher is a gross exaggeration.

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50. Comment #144077 by scoobie on March 15, 2008 at 3:23 am

Thanks for that Zzyx1170

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