I watched Richard Dawkins’ Root of All Evil? the other day and highly recommend it. He explores the dangers of organized religion and the many harms it has done. It has many similarities to his book The God Delusion.
In one segment Dawkins travels to Jerusalem. He talks with a New York native man of Jewish descent that has converted to Islam. When he asks him why there is so much religious hatred in a city considered by many to be the most holy on the planet the man goes into an unrelated rant. He says he hates atheists because they believe in nothing and because they let their women dress like whores.
Dawkins is taken aback. He tells the man that women dress themselves. The man continues on his rant, throwing the word “whore” around again and again.
I kept wondering about that scene. Why was that man obsessed with whores? Why force whores into a conversation that wasn’t even dealing with them?
That scene and the scene with my favorite hypocrite Ted Haggard got me musing on sex work and religion. From time to time religion has come to play in my work. Until I write my first sex work and religion post I’ll leave you with this parting thought:
Richard Dawkins is one sexy scientist! Seriously. I don’t think he intended The Root of All Evil? to have a sultry angle but it certainly does for me. Watching his sexiness and hearing that sexy accent get political while discussing the evils of organized religion was hot!
I should say also that the video was good on an intellectual level. Religion and spirituality can be beneficial to individuals (I’m Pagan myself) but organized religions have so often caused great harm in the course of human history. Dawkins does a great job exploring these themes. (But he does so in such a sexy manner…)
Posted by Vixen as Musings at 11:21 PM CDT