[mista science]

The BBC Horizon link was referenced in the credits of an I-channeltv program broadcast during the week before Christmas. The transcript is much abbreviated and somewhat different from the current TV production. Dr. Dawkins was wearing a helment and various other academics appeared on the show besides those indicated in the transcript. But the transcript does accurately reflect the tone and general thrust of the program.

Here are a few more quotes from the transcript:
.......
PROF RICHARD DAWKINS (University of Oxford): If I were turned into a devout religious believer, my wife would threaten to leave me.
........
DAWKINS: If you ask the question 'what's the survival value of religious belief?' it could be that you're asking the wrong question. What you should be doing is asking what's the survival value of the kind of brain which manifests itself as religious belief under the right circumstances.
.......
DAWKINS: The human religious impulse does seem very difficult to wipe out, which causes me a certain amount of grief. Clearly religion has extreme tenacity.

Did Dawkins succumb? Will his wife be leaving him? Check out the link if you'd like to see how it turned out. Great pic of Dawkins, with just a hint of a smile, wired up to test the effect of Persinger's special electromagnetic fields on his temporal lobes. Certainly no hidden agenda there. Good for a few laughs to start the new season of FR's Science Lecture Series.

[jwalsh07]

But the transcript does accurately reflect the tone and general thrust of the program.

Condescending pr@ck?

[My2Cents]

In Professor Dawkins' opinion the struggle of atheism against religion is nothing less than the battle of truth against ignorance.

Boy, this guy isn't agenda-driven, is he! (/sarcasm)

[My2Cents]

DAWKINS: The human religious impulse does seem very difficult to wipe out, which causes me a certain amount of grief.

Maybe he could improve on Hitler's techniques.

[My2Cents]

Dr Michael Persinger claims that by stimulating the temporal lobes he can artificially induce religious experience in almost anyone.

I didn't read the full article...What the heck is a "religious experience"? Does stimulating the temporal lobes induce a resurrection from the dead?...or implant within someone's brain the complete contents of Calvin's Institutes, or the writings of Aquinas?

Do these people actually think that because of the "PhD" after they names that we're fooled into thinking they're practicing reputable science?

[shrinkermd]

We need a new DSM IV TR schema to identify, and hopefully treat, all of those who are preoccupied with someone else's religion.

[Heartlander]

Dawkins , Dawkins , Dawkins …
Dick Dawkins - the hypothetical champion of science who is fighting against dogma?

[SalukiLawyer]

In other news, scientists annouce discovery of transistor radio proves that broadcasting stations do not exist...

[LiteKeeper]

Dawkins is one of the leading anti-Christians in England

[D Edmund Joaquin]

Persinger has been on all the cable UFO shows, on Discovery and the History channel, ghost sightings, etc. He teaches at Laurentian University in Ontario. He puts a "Persinger helmet" on graduate students' heads and induces an effect related to the effect pilots get when pulling too many g's. He's trotted out as the "expert" who pooh poohs out of body experiences and.... God. Highly entertaining, hilarious even