When I was last in the UK, I watched all four installments of Dawkins' documentary The Root of All Evil. It was a scathing indictment of religious extremists of every faith, creed and colour, and if his presentation were even moderately balanced and accurate, I would tend to agree with Prof. Dawkins' position that religion is a universal scourge. Unfortunately, his film exhibited only the worst offenses of organized religion, and he failed to address the truly positive impact that millions of sincere Jewish, Muslim, and Christian people throughout history and presently have had on our world and upon culture in general.
Is Dawkins an extremist? Is he the high priest of naturalistic fundamentalism? Based upon his rhetoric, I would have to think so. His approach is so abrasive and so hateful, I have to imagine that the only conclusive result of his ideology would be the elimination of religion, which can only culminate with the elimination of the religious.
Dawkins and those of his ilk involved in the La Jolla Conference are only exacerbating the problem. What good can come from extremists from all sides engaged in a fight to the finish? The way to combat religious fundamentalism is NOT through Dawkins' brand of extreme naturalism.
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