A Couple of Notes on Richard Dawkins

Today, I noticed Scott Derrickson posting this link on Twitter. It’s a link to an article by Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, contesting the claims of Richard Dawkins. So, of course, I had to drop everything and read it.

Then, when I posted the link on Facebook, a friend answered with this quote from Camille Paglia on Richard Dawkins …

I was recently flicking my car radio dial and heard an affected British voice tinkling out on NPR. I assumed it was some fussy, gossipy opera expert fresh from London. To my astonishment, it was Richard Dawkins, the thrice-married emperor of contemporary atheists. I had never heard him speak, so it was a revelation. On science, Dawkins was spot on — lively and nimble. But on religion, his voice went “Psycho” weird (yes, Alfred Hitchcock) — as if he was channeling some old woman with whom he was in love-hate combat. I have no idea what ancient private dramas bubble beneath the surface there. As an atheist who respects and studies religion, I believe it is fair to ask what drives obsessive denigrators of religion. Neither extreme rationalism nor elite cynicism are adequate substitutes for faith, which fulfills a basic human need — which is why religion will continue to thrive in our war-torn world.

(Thanks to Luanne Brown Austin for the link, from Salon, Nov. 2009.)