Opens Friday, October 27
Is religion a danger to our society and our future? The world would be better
off without it, according to Oxford professor and British evolutionary biologist
Richard Dawkins. One of the most influential scientists of
our time (his now-classic book The Selfish Gene reformulated the theory
of natural selection for a broad and fascinated public), Dawkins is a rationalist
and vocal atheist who believes that religion is a process of non-thinking, and
he recently made Root of All Evil? for British television. In two parts
called The God Delusion (which is also the title of his new book) and
The Virus of Faith, Dawkins declares that the rise of faith has caused
the retreat of reason in modern society, and he travels around the world to
interview and confront representatives of Catholicism, fundamental Christianity,
Judaism and Islam. He also warns about the religious indoctrination of children
and explains how moral codes, including empathy, charity and pity, could have
evolved through natural selection. His is an eye-opening thesis, controversial
to say the least, and this thought-provoking show has not yet been scheduled
for American broadcast. Producer: Alan Clements. Writer/Presenter: Richard
Dawkins. (UK 2006) 96 min.
Special thanks to David Smith and Sarah Lithgow of IWC Media, Glasgow, and Bill
Banning of the Roxie Film Center.
Opens Friday, October 27