Richard Dawkins at an anti-Pope rally in Britain sums up an issue I have with religion in general (start 8:10).
Dawkins: Finally, perhaps of most personal concern to me, Ratzinger is an enemy of education. Quite apart from the lifelong psychological damage caused by the guilt and fear that have made Catholic education infamous throughout the world, he and his church foster the educationally pernicious doctrine that evidence is a less reliable basis for belief than faith, tradition, revelation, and authority – his authority.
Although it is a direct jab at the Pope and Catholicism, the context is that there is a general concept in religion of ignoring and discrediting science that advances theories and evidence that contradicts religion’s “idea” of the world around us. I have seen this in the context of biology, evolution, origin of species, geological sciences, and even climate change.
From my perspective it seems that religion creates an atmosphere of intellectual complacency. There is an excuse of not seeking out objective evidence and a stubbornness of faith that blinds the mind when confronted with it.
Thus, I think Dawkins’ quote symbolizes the arrogance of religious leaders and followers to stick their head in the sand and maintain a veil of dishonestly when it comes to understanding the world around us.
I for one hang my head in disbelief when the annals of modern science are trumped by a book written prior to the Dark Ages.
And this is why this blog exists.
redox 