richard_dawkins_-_the_god_delusion
286 THE GOD DELUSIONof the church in Wittenberg, but poor Kurt Wise reminds memore of Winston Smith in 1984 - struggling desperately to believethat two plus two equals five if Big Brother says it does. Winston,however, was being tortured. Wise's doublethink comes not fromthe imperative of physical torture but from the imperative -apparently just as undeniable to some people - of religious faith:arguably a form of mental torture. I am hostile to religion becauseof what it did to Kurt Wise. And if it did that to a Harvardeducatedgeologist, just think what it can do to others less giftedand less well armed.Fundamentalist religion is hell-bent on ruining the scientificeducation of countless thousands of innocent, well-meaning, eageryoung minds. Non-fundamentalist, 'sensible' religion may not bedoing that. But it is making the world safe for fundamentalism byteaching children, from their earliest years, that unquestioning faithis a virtue.THE DARK SIDE OF ABSOLUTISMIn the previous chapter, when trying to explain the shifting moralZeitgeist, I invoked a widespread consensus of liberal, enlightened,decent people. I made the rosy-spectacled assumption that 'we' allbroadly agree with this consensus, some more than others, and Ihad in mind most of the people likely to read this book, whetherthey are religious or not. But of course, not everybody is of theconsensus (and not everybody will have any desire to read mybook). It has to be admitted that absolutism is far from dead.Indeed, it rules the minds of a great number of people in the worldtoday, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in theincipient American theocracy (see Kevin Phillips's book of thatname). Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religiousfaith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religioncan be a force for evil in the world.One of the fiercest penalties in the Old Testament is the oneexacted for blasphemy. It is still in force in certain countries.Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code prescribes the death
WHAT'S WRONG "WITH RELIGION? 287penalty for this 'crime'. On 18 August 2001, Dr Younis Shaikh, amedical doctor and lecturer, was sentenced to death for blasphemy.His particular crime was to tell students that the prophetMuhammad was not a Muslim before he invented the religion atthe age of forty. Eleven of his students reported him to theauthorities for this 'offence'. The blasphemy law in Pakistan ismore usually invoked against Christians, such as Augustine Ashiq'Kingri' Masih, who was sentenced to death in Faisalabad in 2000.Masih, as a Christian, was not allowed to marry his sweetheartbecause she was a Muslim and - incredibly - Pakistani (andIslamic) law does not allow a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man. So he tried to convert to Islam and was then accusedof doing so for base motives. It is not clear from the report I haveread whether this in itself was the capital crime, or whether it wassomething he is alleged to have said about the prophet's ownmorals. Either way, it certainly was not the kind of offence thatwould warrant a death sentence in any country whose laws are freeof religious bigotry.In 2006 in Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman was sentenced to deathfor converting to Christianity. Did he kill anyone, hurt anybody,steal anything, damage anything? No. All he did was change hismind. Internally and privately, he changed his mind. He entertainedcertain thoughts which were not to the liking of the ruling party ofhis country. And this, remember, is not the Afghanistan of theTaliban but the 'liberated' Afghanistan of Hamid Karzai, set up bythe American-led coalition. Mr Rahman finally escaped execution,but only on a plea of insanity, and only after intense internationalpressure. He has now sought asylum in Italy, to avoid beingmurdered by zealots eager to do their Islamic duty. It is still anarticle of the constitution of 'liberated' Afghanistan that the penaltyfor apostasy is death. Apostasy, remember, doesn't mean actualharm to persons or property. It is pure thoughtcrime, to use GeorgeOrwell's 1984 terminology, and the official punishment for it underIslamic law is death. On 3 September 1992, to take one examplewhere it was actually carried out, Sadiq Abdul Karim Malallah waspublicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia after being lawfully convicted ofapostasy and blasphemy. 117I once had a televised encounter with Sir Iqbal Sacranie,
- Page 230 and 231: HO I s o r M (.> R A ! I ! Y : \\ I
- Page 232 and 233: O O K \ \ i> 'Mil Xi I'H ,\ j / J.
- Page 234 and 235: T H E ' G O O D ' B O O K A N D T H
- Page 236 and 237: H E ' G O O D " B O O K A N D T H E
- Page 238 and 239: THE ' G O O D ' B O O K AND T H E M
- Page 240 and 241: T H E ' G O O D ' B O () K A N D T
- Page 242 and 243: T H E ' G O I H ) ' B O O K AN l> T
- Page 244 and 245: T H E ' G O O D ' BO O K A N D T H
- Page 246 and 247: ' ! I K ' G O O 1) ' B O O K A N I"
- Page 248 and 249: T H E - G O O D ' B O O K A N D T H
- Page 250 and 251: T H i : ' G O O IV Si O O K A N D T
- Page 252 and 253: TII 1- ' G O O D ' B O O K A N D T
- Page 254 and 255: F i l l • ( . O O D ' B O O K A N
- Page 256 and 257: T H |{ • (. O O D ' B O O K A N D
- Page 258 and 259: HI-: ' G O O D ' B O O K A N D T H
- Page 260 and 261: T H I: ' G O O D ' BO O K A N D T H
- Page 262 and 263: 1 M I. • C; O () I) ' B O O K A N
- Page 264 and 265: T H E ' G () O I) ' B O O K A N D T
- Page 266 and 267: G O O I") ' B O O K A N D T 1 i I ,
- Page 268 and 269: T H E ' G O O D " B O O K A N D T H
- Page 270 and 271: T III ' (, () O D ' H O () K A X D
- Page 272 and 273: T H H ' G O () D ' B O O K A N D T
- Page 274 and 275: CHAPTER 8What's wrong withreligion?
- Page 276 and 277: 282 THE GOD DELUSIONbomb anybody, b
- Page 278 and 279: 284 THE GOD DELUSIONof the lecture,
- Page 282 and 283: 288 T H E GOD D E L U S I O Nmentio
- Page 284 and 285: 290 THE GOD DELUSIONpeople is their
- Page 286 and 287: 292 T H E GOD D ELUSIONdoing his du
- Page 288 and 289: 294 THE GOD DELUSIONconsequentialis
- Page 290 and 291: 296 THE GOD DELUSIONliving in Brita
- Page 292 and 293: 298 THE GOD DELUSIONSecular moralis
- Page 294 and 295: 300 THE GOD DELUSIONof religious up
- Page 296 and 297: 302 THE GOD DELUSIONTaliban of Afgh
- Page 298 and 299: 304 T H E G O D D ELUSIO Nhimself.
- Page 300 and 301: 306 THE GOD DELUSIO Nbelieve what t
- Page 302 and 303: 308 T H E G O D DEL U S I O Nthat f
- Page 304 and 305: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 306 and 307: CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND RELIGION 313at
- Page 308 and 309: CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND RELIGION 315Ed
- Page 310 and 311: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 312 and 313: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 314 and 315: CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND RELIGION 321to
- Page 316 and 317: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 318 and 319: CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND RELIGION 325be
- Page 320 and 321: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 322 and 323: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND RELIG
- Page 324 and 325: C H I L D H O O D , ABUSE AND R E L
- Page 326 and 327: CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND RELIGION 333.t
- Page 328 and 329: C H I L D H O O D , A B U S E A N D
286 THE GOD DELUSION
of the church in Wittenberg, but poor Kurt Wise reminds me
more of Winston Smith in 1984 - struggling desperately to believe
that two plus two equals five if Big Brother says it does. Winston,
however, was being tortured. Wise's doublethink comes not from
the imperative of physical torture but from the imperative -
apparently just as undeniable to some people - of religious faith:
arguably a form of mental torture. I am hostile to religion because
of what it did to Kurt Wise. And if it did that to a Harvardeducated
geologist, just think what it can do to others less gifted
and less well armed.
Fundamentalist religion is hell-bent on ruining the scientific
education of countless thousands of innocent, well-meaning, eager
young minds. Non-fundamentalist, 'sensible' religion may not be
doing that. But it is making the world safe for fundamentalism by
teaching children, from their earliest years, that unquestioning faith
is a virtue.
THE DARK SIDE OF ABSOLUTISM
In the previous chapter, when trying to explain the shifting moral
Zeitgeist, I invoked a widespread consensus of liberal, enlightened,
decent people. I made the rosy-spectacled assumption that 'we' all
broadly agree with this consensus, some more than others, and I
had in mind most of the people likely to read this book, whether
they are religious or not. But of course, not everybody is of the
consensus (and not everybody will have any desire to read my
book). It has to be admitted that absolutism is far from dead.
Indeed, it rules the minds of a great number of people in the world
today, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in the
incipient American theocracy (see Kevin Phillips's book of that
name). Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religious
faith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religion
can be a force for evil in the world.
One of the fiercest penalties in the Old Testament is the one
exacted for blasphemy. It is still in force in certain countries.
Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code prescribes the death
Change language