Time for another quick one about "The God Delusion".
One of the bits I find weakest is Dawkins' argument that belief in God is harmful (as a separate point from arguing that it's not true). He goes on at some length about "religious wars" and conflicts, and suggests that if we didn't have religion, none of those wars would have occurred.
The thing is, the conflict in, for example, Northern Ireland, is about a conflict between two different ethnic/political groups. The fact that they are labelled "protestant" and "catholic" is just convenient labels. They are not arguing about which version of religion is true, any more than they are arguing about which accent is nicer, or whether orange is a nicer colour than green. If there were no religion in the world, they'd still be fighting over that chunk of territory. Same in the former Soviet Union, same with Jews versus Arabs, and probably the same with Islam versus the West, I'd say. The religious labels are just handy labels for different groups in conflict over land or power or resources. If they didn't have those labels, they'd find others.
The question, for me, is about what generates meaning in your life. Dawkins clearly finds a lot, in his commitment to championing evolution and opposing religion... he has a cause. He writes, and rants on telly, like a true fanatic. But he seems nervous of anyone else having the same inclination. He is one of those who'd like to drain things of any meaning. You know, the people who always describe a marriage as "just a piece of paper", or, for that matter, the question of who gets how much of a share of what as being "just about the movements of pieces of paper". (I'm not having a go at Douglas Adams, btw, I don't think he meant that).
People sometimes experience the eruption of meaning into their lives, and it makes them, not necessarily happier, but certainly less docile, less predictable, more human. Some of them (though not all) frame it in terms of religious belief. To me, it looks as if what Dawkins really objects to is not the delusion that there is a God -- it's the way it makes people behave -- rather as he does!
What is the source of meaning in your life, and how do you know that that is so?
