maybe that’s unkind, but it’s certainly the kind of accusation made against him by the god-botherers.
The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science, especially in the schools of America. I am one of those scientists who feels that it is no longer enough just to get on and do science. We have to devote a significant proportion of our time and resources to defending it from deliberate attack from organized ignorance. We even have to go out on the attack ourselves, for the sake of reason and sanity. But it must be a positive attack, for science and reason have so much to give. They are not just useful, they enrich our lives in the same kind of way as the arts do. Promoting science as poetry was one of the things that Carl Sagan did so well, and I aspire to continue his tradition.
I guess Carl Sagan is a kind of John the Baptist.
Dawkins takes a stand against, what he calls, “organised ignorance”. There are some classic lines in his video, like:
Feminists and homosexuals have taught us the value of consciousness-raising.
It will be interesting to see how his foundation fares.
