I'm not really a Richard Dawkins fan. Of course I'm in favour of freedom of expression, but there's something about Dawkins that bothers me. His insistence upon there being NO God, which is something he can't prove, and now his budding belief that believing in fairies and folktales is causing stunted emotional development in children.
What brings this loathsome grinch of a character to my forethoughts is the recent pasting of signs on the side of double decker buses. "There is probably no God" we are told, as we woefully heave our carcasses into the workplace for another 8 hour grind, "So stop worrying and enjoy your life".
At no point in my life have I ever worried because of the thought that there is or may be a God. In fact I think a large number of people get a good deal of confidence and support from the notion that someone up there may be looking out for them. That when everything in their life goes wrong it's because there is some greater plan. That when someone dies they don't just disappear into nothingness. What's worse is the implication that belief in a higher power stops people from enjoying their life. How exactly? Because they need to behave? Because they need to love their neighbour and honour their partner and not steal or kill? With the exception of some extreme examples, what harm is it doing exactly that people might believe in God? If the whole world suddenly became atheists would that solve all of its problems? Of course not, we'd still be fighting about oil and money and past wars.
On a very basic level it seems cruel. It seems like telling small children that there's no Santa Claus. Isn't it a more enjoyable notion to believe that a jolly chap in a red suit pops down the chimney every year to bring presents to kids than to believe that for no reason at all we give presents. I mean, Christmas in the Richard Dawkins house must be a hoot. No birth of Jesus, no Santa Claus, and let's not forget the fact that there is no God, so there's certainly no reason to feel guilt if you can't be bothered to get up off your ass and visit your relatives or buy them gifts.
Worst case scenario, a belief in God makes us feel guilt and worry and shame when we do something wrong, and I can't help but think that that might be a good thing. Maybe if we can't bring ourselves to relate to other human beings it's healthy to fear some kind of higher power, otherwise we'd probably have no morals at all.
With Christmas coming up in less than 2 months, I'm genuinely looking forward to it. I look forward to the presents, the cheesy music, the carols played in town centres and the fact that for once in the course of the year people have to think about someone other than themselves. Of course a cynical person could say that companies merely use the Christmas season to make as much money as possible, but that should not detract in any way from the pleasure of buying something for someone else and enjoying their reaction when receiving it, or getting presents yourself and receiving that remarkable gift that you always wanted but never knew you did. Then there's food and rubbish tv and board games and drinks and games. And family. Most importantly there's family and friends who you've probably not seen in months.
If you do believe in God then buses with this kind of shit on the side are nothing short of insulting. The Christians have come under so much shit lately I'm starting to feel sorry for them. It's not like they'd be able to fund buses with the words "Our God is best" on the side, or tell Muslims they're worshipping the wrong God. There'd be public outcry, and quite rightly so, so why Dawkins and his brigade of Bible burners should be allowed to spew this anti-religious junk all over London is a mystery.
If you don't believe in God, then surely you can't see the point in all this, unless you are truly annoyed by people believing in God, in which case, let's be honest, you are an intolerant twat. Going around saying "there is no God" to you would be like going around saying "there are no pink elephants" or "there are no Starbucks on Mars". You already know they don't exist, ergo it doesn't need to be stated.
If, like so many people, you don't really know whether you believe in God or not, but you still pray when your life starts falling apart, or cursing him when you're caught in rushhour traffic, then I would guess you don't see the harm in believing in God. After all, surely someone other than you must be to blame when you show up to an interview in a brand new suit then throw chicken salad down the front. You've got someone to thank when you miraculously survive some terrible accident. You've got someone to thank for everything around you that's precious, because sometimes dumb luck just doesn't feel like enough.
God plays a far bigger influence than most of us think. Not the active force of God's fingers playing chess with his little human pieces, but humankind's belief in God is what makes him a powerful figure. The Bible isn't just a collection of random commands, it's actually got some good rules to live your life by. It's got tenets in it that make it easier to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror. It's got the power to turn people's lives around as much as it has the power to destroy them; so anyone going around ignorantly expressing the notion that God doesn't exist, just because they've lost the ability to believe certainly doesn't have the right to make other people feel guilty for believing.
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