In my opinion, Dawkins has a narrow view of faith, and of people. I would be the first to challenge any belief that contradicts the findings of science. But there are things we believe in that do not submit to the methods and reductions of science. Furthermore, faith and the passion for the transcendent that often goes with it have been the impulse for so many exquisite creations of humankind. Consider the verses of the Gitanjali, the Messiah, the mosque of the Alhambra, the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Should we take to task Tagore and Handel and Sultan Yusuf and Michelangelo for not thinking? For believing in nonsense, to use Dawkins’s language? Reaching beyond art to the world of public affairs, should we label as nonthinkers Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela because of their religious beliefs, because of their faith in some things that cannot be proved? Can we not accept their value as powerful thinkers and doers even if we do not agree with all of their beliefs?
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 04:13:29 +0000
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