metro
The Reality Of Controversy
Birmingham Temple welcomes
atheist scientist Richard Dawkins
after country club's rejection.
Robin Schwartz
Contributing Writer
to host him in our building': said Rabbi
Tamara Kolton."He's a Humanistic kindred
spirit."
H
e's been called "one of the most
influential people in the world" and
"one of the greatest living geniuses."
But when British evolutionary biologist
Richard Dawkins, 70 — known for his
strong religious criticism and atheist views
— paid a recent visit to Metro Detroit, he
was shunned by the Wyndgate Country Club
in Rochester Hills.
His contract to speak there was abruptly
terminated after the owner saw an Oct. 5
interview with Dawkins on the Fox News
show The O'Reilly Factor. The event was
moved to another location, the private club
has refused to comment, and there's been
talk of legal action against them for violating
Dawkins' civil rights.
"This is sheer bigotry' Dawkins told the
Detroit Free Press. "If the country club had
said,`I'm not having Dawkins speak because
he's a Jew, or because he's black or because
he's gay: they would never get away with it."
A few days after the Wyndgate contro-
versy, Dawkins got a warm welcome at the
Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills. An
estimated 500 adults and children attended
a "morning of science" Oct. 15, including a
question-and-answer session, a hands-on
science fair and book signing.
The event was part of a nationwide tour
to promote Dawkins' new children's book
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's
Really True. Members of the Birmingham
Temple are Humanistic Jews. Congregants
focus on Jewish culture, history and identity,
but exclude all prayers and references to God.
"For the Birmingham Temple, it's so
validating that a man like Richard Dawkins
would come here and that we would be able
Ai7 m;w 7
Thought Provoking Questions
In his book, Dawkins endeavors to use sci-
ence to bust what he calls myths — things
many religious groups believe — including
Biblical passages like the stories of Adam
and Eve and Noah's ark.
"I think it's fascinating' he told the
Birmingham Temple crowd in a soft-spoken
tone with his distinct British accent. "I won-
der who made up these stories and why?
Presumably the original inventors of these
stories knew they were fiction when they
made them up. Stories like this are fun; we
love repeating them. But, when we hear a
story like that, whether it's an ancient m yth
or a modern urban legend that whizzes
around the Internet, it's also worth stopping
to ask whether it or any part of it is true:'
Dawkins tackles questions like, "How old
is the universe? Why are there so many kinds
of plants and animals? Who was the first
person?"
During his talk, he told the attentive audi-
ence there never was a "first person': He
asked them to imagine taking photos of all
of their ancestors and stacking them on top
of each other going back 185 million years.
"So, who was your 185th million great-
grandfather?" Dawkins asked, with children
seated on the floor in front of him and adults
in chairs behind them. "We don't know
exactly what he looked like, but fossils give
us a pretty good idea. Your 185th million
great-grandfather was a fish."
He tells readers that science is truly what's
magical; the beauty of the universe and
the very fact that we exist. When one child
asked him,"Do we know what we're going
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Richard Dawkins
presented a "Morning
of Science" at the
Birmingham Temple.
to evolve into next?" Dawkins answer was,
"No." During his O'Reilly appearance he also
conceded scientists don't really know how
the world started.
"Science does know quite a lot of things
about how the moon came into existence,
why the sun is there, why the moon is there'
he said."Science doesn't yet know how
everything started. They're working on it.
How can it possibly help to postulate a divine
intelligence to explain something compli-
cated like that?"
Passionate Skeptics
The crowd gave Dawkins a standing ovation
and applauded loudly numerous times dur-
ing his visit.
Afterward, Stephanie Blum of Farmington
Hills, an attorney and a member of the
Birmingham Temple, said she found it all
fascinating.
"I consider myself a Humanist rather than
an atheist': Blum explained. "I don't think it's
relevant whether God exists. I look to people
to try to solve the world's problems, so I don't
pray. I act as if God doesn't exist!'
Berta and John Gardon of Bloomfield Hills
both fled Europe during the Holocaust. They
grew up in a place and time where religious
education was obligatory. They're also mem-
bers of the Birmingham Temple and enthu-
siastic Dawkins supporters.
"Once a week a priest and a rabbi would
come to our school in Austria and instruct
us',' Berta recalled."I found the biblical sto-
ries wonderful, but I decided they were only
very nice stories. I'm not religious — but if
someone else wants to be religious that's per-
fectly fine with me."
Her husband, who waited in line to have
his book signed, said he was impressed by
the presentation and Dawkins' ability to
make complex concepts so easy to under-
stand.
"He's a wonderful teacher': John Gardon
said. "The issue is not only what [Dawkins]
teaches, which I fully believe in, but how well
he teaches it. He inspired the children to ask
meaningful questions!'
The Birmingham Temple was Dawkins'
final stop on his U.S. tour before returning to
London. When asked how he'd describe his
progress in his quest to cultivate a broader
base of "passionate skeptics': he said his
message seems to be resonating with more
and more people.
"I get much encouragement from the
Internet, from young people;' Dawkins said.
"Statistics show that the numbers of nonbe-
lievers are going up all the time
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