By ROBERTA JANSEN - BRAZILIAN NEWSPAPER O GLOBO
Added: Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Layla for the link and translation.

http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/prosa/posts/2009/06/27/richard-dawkins-um-devoto-do-ateismo-199515.asp

Na esteira do recrudescimento do criacionismo e da propagação das ideias do design inteligente nos Estados Unidos e na Europa, um outro movimento cresceu e apareceu em todo o mundo capitaneado pelo biólogo Richard Dawkins, um dos mais proeminentes evolucionistas da atualidade: o novo ateísmo.

Trata-se de uma defesa ferrenha da ciência e da razão em oposição a toda e qualquer religião, a todo e qualquer deus — e Dawkins é debochado o suficiente para falar em Thor e Apolo. O debate chega por aqui com o próprio Dawkins, um dos grandes nomes da 7 Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty (Flip), que começa na próxima quarta-feira. E, não por acaso, no ano em que se comemoram os 150 anos da publicação de “A origem das espécies”, obra na qual Charles Darwin divulgou para o mundo a Teoria da Evolução — que alteraria para sempre a História ao separar a ciência da religião.
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http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/prosa/posts/2009/06/27/richard-dawkins-um-devoto-do-ateismo-199515.asp

A devotee of atheism

by Roberta Jansen

In the wake of the upsurge of creationism and the propagation of intelligent design in the United States and Europe, another movement has appeared and begun to grow around the world, led by the biologist Richard Dawkins, one of today’s most prominent evolutionists: the New Atheism.

It is a very strong defense of science and reason in opposition to any and all religion, to any and all gods – and Dawkins is sardonic enough to speak of Thor and Apollo. The debate arrives here with Dawkins himself, one of the big names at the 7th International Literary Festival of Paraty (Flip), which begins next Wednesday. And, not by chance, this is the year commemorating 150 years since the publication of The Origin of Species, the work in which Charles Darwin told the world about the theory of evolution, which would change history forever by separating science from religion.

Responsible for campaigns such as the one covering buses in London and New York with phrases like “God probably doesn’t exist,” Dawkins has a discussion scheduled for next Thursday at 7 PM with the journalist Silio Boccanera on the topic “Deus, um delirio (The God Delusion)” (the title of the book, published in Brazil by Companhia das Letras in 2007) . The debate promises to be polemical. A practicing atheist, and one of the most committed, the biologist throws out, without blinking, remarks like “the Bible is a horrible book,” “I think that much of the evil in the world comes from religion,” and even “Believing in something without evidence is very pernicious.”

In this interview with The Globe, given in Pirenópolis, in the state of Goiás, where he is attending the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Dawkins spoke about his atheism in action, about the latest news from Iran, and about Darwin and evolution.

At Flip, the biologist launches A grande história da evolução — Na trilha dos nossos ancestrais (The Ancestor’s Tale), originally published in 2004. The work is a kind of encyclopedia of evolution, which takes humans, going through all their ancestors to the beginning of life. Along the way, Dawkins explains the principal points of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution:

“I have dedicated myself to atheism, but I return to science in this book,” he says.

In Paraty, the topic of your appearance is The God Delusion. What do you expect the response to be from the audience in Brazil, which, as you know, is the largest Catholic country in the world and notable for its syncretism with African religions?

Richard Dawkins: My experience in the United States is that, even in a very religious country, there are also many people who do not have a religion, who are atheists and who are poorly represented, who don’t have a voice. One of the effects of my books and of my lectures has been to give a voice to these people, to let them speak. Perhaps the same will be true in Brazil, we’ll see.

After the publication of The God Delusion you dedicated yourself to the cause of atheism. Your new book, to be launched worldwide in September, The Greatest Show on Earth, continues the attack on creationism in being dedicated to presenting evidence for the theory of evolution. Why all this dedication?

Dawkins: The God Delusion is an attack on religion. The Greatest Show on Earth is an attack on creationism. It is true that I have dedicated myself a lot to atheism, but I return to science in this book. The same with The Ancestor’s Tale – they are scientific books about evolution, not religion.

Yes, but you have dedicated yourself enormously to the defense of atheism, with websites and debates. And offering scientific evidence for evolution contributes directly to this debate, knocking down religious arguments.

Dawkins: Yes, you’re right. This has to do with the search for truth, and I am always concerned with that when possible. I think that much of the evil in the world comes from religion. Believing in something without evidence is very pernicious.

Some of your critics say that you are as radical as the people you fight against. Even some evolutionists say that, in taking this path, you are giving ammunition to the enemy. How do you respond to these critics?

Dawkins: I don’t believe that there is anything wrong in being radical in seeking the truth. I seek scientific evidence. I seek evidence in order to explain why the universe is as it is – that is something that interests me. Some of these accusations can be explained by political matters. But I’m not interested in politics. Furthermore, I don’t abuse people. Anyone who has read The God Delusion knows that it’s a funny book. Very different from the Bible, which is a horrible book. As an atheist, I like to encourage people to read the Bible to see just how horrible it is.

God never had as much publishing appeal as you, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have had since the beginning of your crusade for atheism. Do you think this is good or bad?

Dawkins: It’s true, our books have sold very well. There is something in the opposition to God that sells well. And there have been at least 20 books published that have attempted to respond to my book. There is an industry on the religious side that was stirred up by the publicity. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I believe that everybody has the right to publish books, I don’t know if they are good or if they sell well.

Some critics have also said that the New Atheism, as this movement is called, is a religion. A religion without a formal God but, even so, a religion replete with icons.

Dawkins: We don’t believe in God, the same way that people don’t believe in fairies. There’s a whole series of things we don’t believe in. We don’t need to create a religion for things in which we don’t believe. I don’t believe in Apollo, Thor, or any other god. I believe in science, in rationality, in a way of looking at the world that clearly works, that can be proven scientifically.

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species was published in 1859. Since then, evolution has been accepted as a fact by all scientists. Even so, millions of people all over the world continue to question its truth. Why? What is so powerful in the arguments of creationists and intelligent design proponents?

Dawkins: The ignorance of the population. Which is not a crime. People, in general, don’t know anything about evolution. If you look at the educational system in most countries, you’ll see that it is very bad. So people are against something they don’t know anything about.

Is this why you decided to write The Greatest Show on Earth? To offer those answers?

Dawkins: Yes, that is why I decided to write about the evidence for evolution. And the book is written for laypeople, in a style that I think is very interesting and fun.

In the new book, you explain the importance of the fossil record and how molecular biology and genetics confirm Darwin’s theory. But one of the religious fundamentalists’ favorite arguments for attacking evolution is the origin of life. They argue that science has not succeeded in reproducing this event yet. Recently, a study came very close to creating parts of RNA, but not life itself. How do you respond to this in your new book?

Dawkins: The origin of life is the starting point, not the same thing as evolution. And it is not a very common phenomenon. In truth it is a very rare, improbable event, which happened once in 4 billion years. Something that might have happened only once in the entire universe – we don’t know yet, but if the advent of life were so common, we probably would have already discovered something or been discovered. It’s a common argument, but I think it’s very silly. It’s the God of the gaps: when they can’t explain something, they say that it was God. But then they still have to explain God.

Human groups in whatever time or place, in completely isolated areas, always have some type of faith in the supernatural. Do you believe that faith has a genetic basis? That it’s a product of evolution?

Dawkins: Yes, I do. Probably not directly. I think that human beings have a psychological predisposition for religious faith and that this must have a genetic basis. And that people, under certain conditions, develop religions because, in some way, they help them to survive.

In the last few thousand years religion has, directly or indirectly, been the cause of many different wars and atrocities. How do you see what is happening now in Iran?

Dawkins: My Iranian friends think that what is happening now is symptomatic of a revolt against Islam which oppresses women and forces people to live under a theocracy. There is intelligence in Iran far away from mullahs and ayatollahs.

Many of your critics recall that atheists, in secular states, have also committed great atrocities, as in some communist regimes. Are such atrocities linked to religion or just to human nature?

Dawkins: It’s not just human nature. You are probably thinking of Stalin, who developed a kind of atheist, totalitarian, Marxist religion. But he was not motivated by atheism, which is very different. Crusaders were motivated by religion. The September 11th hijackers were motivated by religion. The wars in the Middle East as well. So were many of the wars in Europe, but not all, not the First and Second World Wars. There is a logical path that leads from religious faith to very bad things like violence and wars. And this is logical when we accept the premise that we are dealing with the will of God. For the hijackers of September 11, that was good logic. I do not think that there is a logical path from atheism to such atrocities.

What are you doing in Pirenópolis?

Dawkins: I am participating in the annual conference of the Animal Behavior Society, which is paying tribute to me. It’s the first meeting of the Society in Latin America. I am very honored to be so recognized and so I accepted the invitation to come. And my editor kindly convinced me to go to Paraty, also.

TAGGED: INTERVIEWS, RICHARD DAWKINS, SCIENCE

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