For his documentary Root of All Evil?, Richard Dawkins was granted inside access to Ted Haggard's Colorado Springs mega-church, and he sits down for an interview with Haggard. "This place strains belief. It isn't just a church, but an organized social network," comments Dawkins upon walking into the basketball arena-sized temple.
See the 8 minute clip at YouTube. Not surprisingly, Haggard accuses Dawkins of "intellectual arrogance," but manages to keep his cool after Dawkins compares his church service to a Nuremberg Nazi rally. Only later does Haggard pull up in his pick-up truck and boot Dawkins and his film crew off the property, accusing them of calling his church-goers animals. Dawkins claims he was only discussing evolution, and that all humans are animals.
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Haggard's actions while berating Dawkins for saying his children are animals seems so, I don't know, animal-like.
I can just imagine what transpired what happened before Ted shooed Dawkin's away from the church.
God to Ted: "Are you going to take that? Huh? He said the E-word in MY house! Can I smite him? Huh? Can I?"
Ted to God: "No, I will take care of this. Now, what reasons for being mean to an evolutionist can you remember from the Monkey Trial?"
I think it's good that Dawkins is actually looking at religion to find out if his theories have any basis in fact. However, I can't help but wonder if he is choosing examples which he knows will back up the conclusion he's looking for. It would be interesting to know what other religious organisations he is researching. For example, is he going to a mosque, a synagogue or is it just evangelical Churches?
So, basiclaly, anyhtign Dawkisn does is OK. Dawkins wasn't shooed off for discussing evolution, he was shooed off for beign an arrogant, rude, belittling bully.
I'm not a fan of Haggards, but lets face it, the hwole Nuremberge comment was uncalled for and infllametory and Dawkisn enture tone was hostile. Defendign Dawkins is not defendign Sicnea and reaosn, tis defending indecency and arrogancy.