Dawkins annoys me. He was crusading God as the root of all evil (ok, it was a BBC recommendation for the show) and he gives it to a gay priest for not following to the letter every passage from the bible. He plays games when it suits him.
I thought this was agood balanced response from the Acting Mayor of Manly last Saturday:
If you have been following the media debates of late you will know that Professor Richard Dawkins, the brilliant Oxford biologist, has taken an axe to religion. For Dawkins ‘religion is a dangerous virus’ that can lead only to hatred and conflict. My God! Is this going on in Manly?
One of the few ‘perks’ of being an elected representative is that I’ve been invited to visit many of Manly’s spiritual institutions. I’ve always been made welcome despite the fact that being a politician it goes without saying that I’m a chronic sinner. Worse still, I should declare here from the outset that, like Dawkins, I am a committed atheist.
Yet I feel this gives me a special perspective and allows me to cast a critical eye over Manly’s spiritual institutions and test Dawkins's damning hypothesis. As he would say, let’s look at the evidence.
To begin with, for many years I’ve observed my friend Rev. Michael Aitken, from St Mathews on The Corso. I’ve seen him take up one good cause after another; social justice issues, environmental and third world poverty. I see no hatred festering there.
Up the hill to Fairlight in the old Baptist Church is the amazing William Street ‘small boat, big sea’ Christian Collective. There they have created an incredibly modern and positive version of Christianity. In their own words they are ‘a new model of church that transcends liturgy and patriarchal leadership’. There I’ve heard inspirational Christians like Tim Costello state their case for compassion.
In Balgowlah at the Uniting Church, Minister Graham Perry, a much loved and gentle soul, delivers sermons that touch the hearts of many. And public figures like Tom Uren and Aboriginal leaders are invited to share their stories and encourage strategies to help those in need. I found no hatred there either.
But the variety of spirituality around Manly does not end at that. Indeed, our community has a spiritual smorgasbord.
At the Satyanada Yoga Ashram in Manly, a cross section of our community learn the benefits of meditation and yoga, or hear the learned academic Dr. Martin Alberto whose poetic lectures blend the insights of western medicine with the ancient spiritual teachings of India’s yogis.
On Thursday nights in Manly Neighbourhood Centre, the Mahasiddha Buddhist group quietly share the teachings of The Buddha, seeking the enlightenment path to wisdom and happiness so they can better serve others.
Meanwhile, all through the night, the Salvos, led by Grant Kingston Kerr, are beavering away, manning the soup kitchen in Manly and serving the poor, the struggling, and the outcast.
There are many other spiritual institutions I’ve visited in Manly, but I have not seen the ugliness that Dawkins claims is innate and inevitable within religion.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree with Dawkins erudite lampooning of religious fundamentalism, whether Texan or Taliban, that preaches hate, claims to be the sole repository of truth, places women as second class citizens or uses religion as a cloak to disguise primeval bigotry. If I did find such bigotry in Manly then I’d readily publicly condemn it. But this is not what I’ve found. I have put Dawkins hypothesis to the test in Manly, and the evidence just doesn’t stack up.
My observations of the spiritual communities in Manly are not people attempting to force their beliefs on others. Indeed, what has impressed me most is what all these spiritual institutions share. Despite their various denominational labels, I see a strong commonality in their dedication to serving others who are in need and a commitment to rise above our own selfishness, anger, and foolishness.
This is the beauty within all these spiritual communities that a crusty old atheist like me can only respect. This may bring steam to come forth out of Richard Dawkins's ears, but I believe that without these spiritual communities, Manly would be a much lesser place.
Brad Pedersen
Deputy Mayor
