Richard Dawkins: The Playboy Interview

OK, I guess I have to buy another issue of Playboy.

(The last one that I was forced to buy was back in  February 2007, when my post on God's killings was mentioned in its "Raw Data" section.)

But the September 2012 issue has something even better: a long interview with Richard Dawkins.



You can read some of it here, but to get the whole thing you've got to buy the issue. (I know it's a bit embarrassing, but it has to be done.)

The thing that struck me the most was this question about the Bible:

PLAYBOY: You’ve read the Bible.

DAWKINS: I haven’t read it all, but my knowledge of the Bible is a lot better than most fundamentalist Christians’.

And that's probably true enough. Most Christians haven't read the Bible; it's a lot easier to believe in the Bible if you've never read it.

Still, I'm surprised that Dawkins hasn't read the Bible, the whole goddamned thing from cover to cover.

Of course, it's not necessary to read it all to know enough about it to reject it. The first and last few verses are more than enough:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1

If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book  ... He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Revelation 22:18-20

Dawkins knows enough about "the plagues that are written in this book" and the nasty nature of its imaginary god to reject both the book and its supposed author. I don't know how anyone could do otherwise.

But enough of all that. I've got to go get the September issue of Playboy.

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August 22 Update: I got the issue and guess what? The entire interview is included in the above link. But don't let that stop you from buying a copy -- for the pictures. (There are three photos of Dawkins that aren't included in the online interview.)