Is religion a threat to rationality?

There’s a debate tonight at the British Council on this theme between Professor Daniel Dennett and Lord Robert Winston.
Dennett writes:

“This imperviousness to reason is, I think, the property that we should most fear in religion. Other institutions or traditions may encourage a certain amount of irrationality – think of the wild abandon that is often appreciated in sports or art – but only religion demands it as a sacred duty.”

Winston writes:

“Religion is built into human consciousness and there is plentiful evidence of it being a cohesive force. Apart from the survival of our prehistoric ancestors, in recent times there are powerful examples of how a notion of the transcendental has spurred humans on in desperate situations.”

You can read a summary of their respective positions here.
I confess that I’m a Dennett man as will be very evident from this essay.


One Comment

  • Nick

    I was heartened to read recently of a “poll by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation [that] uncovered a widespread belief that faith – not just in its extreme form – was intolerant, irrational and used to justify persecution.” See Religion is ‘the new social evil’.
    As one participant said, “Faith in supernatural phenomena inspires hatred and prejudice throughout the world, and is commonly used as justification for persecution of women, gays and people who do not have faith.”

 




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