The Richard Dawkins Collection (The Genius of Charles Darwin, The Enemies of Reason and The Root of All Evil?) [DVD]

A superb DVD! Two discs. Disc 1 is a copy of the series that went out on Channel 4. It explains or rather Richard Dawkins explains Darwins theory of Natural Selection and does it in a way that all can relate to and understand. There is a wonderful interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, in an effort to even the playing field.
Disc 2 then takes on the tricky problem that is established Religion. Professor Dawkins interviews the leaders from various faiths and asks simple but telling questions. No dinner party will ever be the same! You can discuss religion without blows!
Regardless of your perceived views on Darwin, this is a documentary you should treasure. It is both eloquent and factual and most importantly, gets your mind buzzing!

Often reviled by religionists foaming at the mouth by his calmly reasoned heresy, Dawkins gamely tries to promote science - which provides irrefutable evidence for evolution despite the oft repeated strawman arguments of the creationists who'd sooner we revert to idiocy than acknowledge reality - over the irrational and often offensive beliefs of those indoctrinated into bronze age thinking, where all the wonders and marvels of the universe, instead of being explored and understood, are blindly attributed to a magic sky-fairy, who is probably the most unpleasant character in popular fiction.

These programs are fascinating, thought provoking, and long overdue.

The inexplicable rise of christian neo-fascism in america, with threats of ID being taught in schools, and creationist museums springing up depicting some kind of lunatic live-action flintsones with cavemen and dinosaurs living together as a factual rendition of the past (despite the 65 million year gap in time)- its time to address these delusional belief systems, which far from being just a useful tool for social control and personal comfort, seems increasingly intent on bringing violence, terrorism, racism, homophobia and mysogonism to us all.

While science doesn't yet provide the answers to *all* the big questions - it has emphatically answered how mankind came into existence, where the planet earth came from and approximately how old it is.

Also - unlike the best selling religious texts - scientific work is updated and revised to stay at the forefront of human knowledge, rather than being rooted thousands of years in the past.

Dawkins beliefs aren't "beliefs" - they require no "faith" - its not a system - its not a form of "religion"; its simply how things are in reality. A lot of people would sooner bury their heads in the sand rather than go to a museum or read a science book.

Dawkins may not be the most diplomatic or unbiased of commentators (!) but established religion has only relatively recently stopped murdering non-believers. Thankfully - its about time we heard an educated perspective, rather then mumbo jumbo.

What is there to say? Dawkins is an intensely shining light of reason in a world torn apart by religion. I love all of his work and these 3 films are a perfect introduction for anyone who is interested in what he has to say and why.

In "The Root of All Evil?" he examines religion and interviews all manner of deluded individuals; some harmless and some not so. The ex-Jew who converted to Islam is particularly unsettling to watch, especially when he rants about the way that western women dress. The interview with the uneducated US preacher who was soon exposed as a massive hypocrite is another stunning moment. I'd feel more sorry for these people if they weren't trying to tell people what to do.

In "Enemies of Reason" Richard casts his net wider to cover homeopathy, crystal healing, cold reading, horoscopes and all manner of other forms of hocus-pocus. If, like me, you've ever wondered why people get taken in by that kind of drivel you'll be thrilled.

And finally in "The Genius of Charles Darwin" he talks about the most beautiful and simple idea of recent times: evolution. Just as Copernicus showed us that the Earth is not the centre of the unverse, so Darwin showed us that we are not the centre of the animal kingdom either. The fact is that we are just another product of nature; flawed, yes, but also fantastically complex and in a unique position in the history of our fragile little planet.

Religious people like to say that not believing removes the mystery from the world, removes the whole "point" of existence, even removes the reason to be moral and good. Well, for me, people like Dawkins give me hope for the future. While religion teaches us that we are masters of the Earth - made in god's image with a free reign to do as we like - evolution demonstrates to us, in no uncertain terms, that we are an animal that must learn to live in harmony with our environment or suffer the consequences.

For anyone new to Richard Dawkins I'd certainly recommend this DVD set first, then read "The God Delusion" then if you want to see how deep the rabbit hole really goes I'd recommend reading "The Selfish Gene" followed by possibly his best work; "The Extended Phenotype". I am currently reading "The Ancestor's Tale" and am stunned with each fresh turn of the page.