On “Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life”, part two, Richard Dawkins visits a woodland burial site. The people buried there are not religious, but it is still important to be buried in a particular direction- “facing” the Sunrise, or uphill, or downhill. He himself has thought of being buried by a little church in Cornwall, in the sound of the waves and tides. And he asks a brilliant question:
-So why do even atheists like me carry around this sentimental baggage?
And then he asks a silly one:
-When did these illogical thoughts first develop?
He talks of the mind as separate from the body, and why that idea is useful. It is useful to have the thought of a mind in control of the body, making plans and carrying them out, and of one being with accurate memories of the past, though it is an illusion. Death is a side-effect of how genes work: how best may they be passed on?
“Sentimental baggage”, “Illogical thoughts”- no, feelings which bond people, which reassure us. My respect for my father will continue after his death, and part of that will be giving him a good funeral when the time comes. It may be adaptive: caring about someone after she dies is a side-effect of caring so deeply about her while she is alive, when she is missing or sick, say.
He interviews a woman whose third baby was born without kidneys. This was established in a scan, and as was certain to happen, the child died in less than an hour after birth. Coldly rational, she might have had an abortion as soon as she found out, but chose to carry the child to term. After an abortion, she could have started the grieving process, but carrying the child was part of the grieving process, the denial (hoping for a miracle), anger and bargaining, and when they had that half hour with their child it was a joyous encounter, completely worth it.
Religion does a vast amount of harm, from opposing equal marriage and interracial marriage to oppressing most who follow it with silly rules. Dawkins does the world a service by repeating this, frequently. He serves everyone who is escaping such legalist religion. And he does not seem to understand humanity, why feelings make sense even when you cannot think them through.
Clare Flourish 
When I stop to think about it, it strikes me that so much in my life has been shaped by religion and related practices and getting out of that cycle is both scary and exciting. When it comes to death/burial, maybe it’s not illogical really to think of where our bodies will be laid to rest since our bodies are our possessions and we would like to make sure it’s taken care of how we want – even if we are not there to see it. The woman with the baby without kidneys just breaks my heart..to hold your baby knowing that s/he will be dead in less than a day..
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For me it is so simple, you bury corpses respectfully, it is just a matter of Respect. Dawkins questions everything. I will always remember him on the telly explaining how an eye can evolve- “climbing mount improbable” is his memorable metaphor. I cannot say which way of being is better (questioning or accepting) but I think mine more comfortable.
That couple had a horrible experience, but not having the abortion when she found out, going through with the pregnancy, she had time to prepare for the Goodbye. We can adjust to a lot of things, given time. Had she had an abortion, the nagging suspicion that the scan had been read mistakenly, however irrational, might haunt her.
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It probably would have. Few things are worse that asking yourself ‘what if” for events that have already occurred..
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If nothing else, it sounds like Richard Dawkins poses questions that encourage people to be more conscious of what they believe.
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Exactly. He asks the questions I would not think of asking, which bring me to consider what it is to be human.
Odd. Here am I, spiritual healer and Christian, with a great love for Richard Dawkins and his work.
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He does have his points. However, it must be pointed out that Dawkins is also raging misogynist. As irrational and destructive as religion can be, the atheist/skeptic community is not without its own assortment of wackjobs, especially when it comes to chauvinism and male privilege.
This is a very powerful piece by atheist Rebecca Watson on the phenomena. It also has Dawkins’ response to a youtube video she posted after a conference. His words made my skin crawl.
http://mobile.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/10/sexism_in_the_skeptic_community_i_spoke_out_then_came_the_rape_threats.html
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Welcome, Kris, and thank you for commenting.
Yes, he was wrong to say that. She is right that it was not a good time to approach her to pick her up, and a sceptic conference is not a pick-up joint anyway: women go there for other reasons. The attempted pick-up was creepy, and Dawkins’ response was wrong.
And- he is still my hero. He has done so much.
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