Richard Dawkins Collection - Rational Thought

Siren Visual

R4 DVD Box Set

This collection brings together the works of Richard Dawkins:

The best-selling documentary The Root of All Evil?

Six hours of uncut interviews from the making of The Root of All Evil?

The Enemies of Reason

Richard Dawkins is a controversial scientist, atheist and rationalist, while he originally focused his work on theoretical science, as he saw the world descending into religious wars and superstition he felt compelled to act. Dawkins is a unique figure in that he is a highly respected scientist and academic whose call to rationalism and espousal of the rigours of the scientific method is not driven by a personal agenda but by seeing the cost in terms of human suffering caused by religion and superstition.

As Dawkins argues passionately in the Root of all Evil it is too easy to simply write off terrorism as “religious extremism” and not appreciate that martyrdom is at the heart of all monotheistic religions. It is not a matter of only extreme or fundamentalist religions and cults being a risk to humanity, but that any philosophy or religion that places faith in place of rational thought can just as easily move from benign to destructive in a simple step. While we may see the Pope as a nice fellow working for peace, it is too easy to forget that past Popes encouraged the wholesale slaughter of the innocent in various crusades and inquisitions. As Dawkins argues it is not simply the extremes of religion that are the problem but the whole underpinning of religious thinking which is based on faith and dogma rather than on empirical evidence uncovered by rigorous study and testing. Too often the excuse is used that science is fine “ in its place” and that theology also has a place also i.e. “Where matter ends, spirit begins”. However, the truth is that if we cannot prove the existence of anything beyond matter then it should not be accepted at all, period. As Dawkins discusses we cannot use a “negative” to prove a case, just because we cannot prove Thor or Ra do not exist does not make them real and so it is with any religious, new age or paranormal phenomenon.

In the 21^st Century we must base our democracy on a secular worldview grounded in the scientific method otherwise we will find ourselves slipping back into primitive and superstitious ways of thinking with disastrous results. On the world stage the three “ugly sisters” of Judaism, Islam and Christianity are battling it out and causing immense suffering along the way, whether by direct means (such as terrorism) or covert means (such as Catholicism rejecting condoms in the third world and causing death via AIDS). Dawkins calls it as he sees it in this impressive and powerful documentary and includes some six hours of further uncut interviews on the second DVD.

What is presented on The Root of All Evil is a harrowing experience, when we come face to face with Islamic extremists, mentally unhinged creationists and other religious fanatics it is shocking to see how such hatred and irrational thought can survive today and moreover that so many hold fast to such delusions. As Dawkins rightly argues the issue must be in the education of children and we need to demand secular education for all children and perhaps even go as far as see the religious indoctrination of children as tantamount to child abuse.

In the Enemies of Reason Dawkins takes aim at the new age, alternative health and related paranormal groups such as spiritualists. Again, it would be too easy to simply write these off as harmless practises by eccentrics, however, this is not the case. Once reason is jettisoned and replaced with doctrine and dogma or, as in the case of the new age, by personal subjective experience then anything goes and indeed madness can truly reign. As can be readily seen in Dawkin’s presentation of the new age, many of its proponents seem to be on the edge of sanity and have beliefs which border on the truly delusional ranging from angelic healing to 12 strain DNA resequencing by meditation!

Not only can these practises do immense financial harm to the pockets of those buying into them but to their health and mental well being as well. The major danger is that the new age appeals to those in need, those seeking meaning, while traditional religion has lost its appeal the free and subjective nature of the new age seems to fill the gap. The problem, of course, is so many seem to be exploiting the gullible with ludicrous gimmicks, untested cures and bizarre techniques. Moreover, so often those who are mentally suffering are exploited by spiritualists and others who promise solace but offer nothing but pipedreams. Whether these people are self deluded or deliberately deceptive is irrelevant as the suffering that results is just as real.

While the new age can be seen as risky, the danger with alternative medicine is even greater. While mainstream medicine requires years of clinical testing and practitioner training, anyone can place up a shingle and claim to have a new type of therapy. The ill, infirm and dying are regularly exploited by every type of alternative therapy imaginable from bizarre massage techniques to angelic healing, extreme diets to herbs and potions. The risks is that many will waste valuable time and money on such treatments when mainstream treatment could have helped their problems and in many cases this delay could be a matter of life and death. Furthermore, sadly, instead of the terminally ill facing the nature of their condition and making peace with themselves and their loved ones, they spend their last days travelling through the circus of supposed cures in search of miracles.

In Enemies of Reason Dawkins makes a strong case for a need for a return to rational and critical thinking. Too often the media is interested in sensational anti-science hysteria and allows new age cures off the hook by placing them uncritically in the lifestyle category. The West is consumed with hype regarding new diets, fads and miracle cures and spends billions of dollars each year on quackery, if just some of these funds were directed to mainstream medicine discoveries could be made in years rather than decades.

In each of Dawkins documentaries he calls us to return to rationality and to critically examine the beliefs we inherit from family and culture. He is not a closed minded bigot, he is more than willing to accept that science is an open ended process and new discoveries are regularly being made. However, until science finds proof, even slight, of the “spiritual” verities claimed by religion and the new age, then we must treat them with scepticism. As individuals and as a culture we must place the critical experimental method of scientific enquiry at the foundation of our worldview, if we do not then there will be little hope of resolving the current world crisis of terrorism and extremism.

This is a serious matter, the issue is not one of a philosophical debate between atheists and believers, it is a debate about the very foundations of our democracy and the future we wish to have and at present it seems, sadly, that the fundamentalists and extremists are having a field day and hence this series comes none too soon.