1. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #50830 by adamello on June 20, 2007 at 5:49 am

"What bothers me most is that otherwise reasonable or well educated people refuse to see the point. I've been fascinated and curious in an academic way with this point for many years now, but now it just makes me frustrated and mad."

Karl Marx said that religion is the opium of the people. I always thought it was about creating delusion, but now I see that it's also about addiction.

My only addiction ever used to be smoking. I remember how comforting it was to see that I was not ruining my health alone, and how I took any stupid reason or excuse to continue smoking seriously.

The same must be true with religion. My wife was raised Catholic. Now, she doesn't go to church, is pro choice, pro birth control, gay marriage etc. She will criticize bishops and priests. But she won't hear or read anything negative about god, pope John Paul II or Mother Theresa. I'm pretty sure she'll never read the translated "God Delusion" I bought her. This is because she wants to believe that certain people or ideas are good, and that's it.

I'm pretty sure that if the Pope were ever to say "Sorry folks, but we've been lying to you all along", a lot of Catholics wouldn't believe him.