Battleangel

Via David Galbraith (1) (2). A recent documentary series on BBC channel four, featuring Richard Dawkins, exposes the fraud that is religion. And laments that the irrational practises aren’t waning despite increasing scientific knowledge.

Channel 4 - Drawing on such examples, it is not difficult to demolish the claims of religion as fairytales, and dangerous ones at that. But there is more to religion than ancient stories and articles of faith. Dawkins touches on the sense of belonging promised by religious groups but dismisses this as ’seductive group solidarity’, which he describes as a ’shared delusion’. In doing so, he glances off the more subtle dilemmas of how religions and religious traditions are woven through people’s notions of ‘community’, ‘history’ and ‘identity’.

Having a sense of one’s place in the world is important to everyone but has particular significance for minorities and peoples under political, economic or military pressure. Individuals may even accept Dawkins’ atheistic and scientific deconstruction of the myths they have grown up with but still defend and nurture the matrix of institutions, practices and relationships which make them who they are.

Available on bittorrent of course. An important document for any atheist.