Faith is usually characterised by Dawkins as ignorant superstition, disconnected from evidence and reason. His version of faith is very far from that advocated by the NT writings, and is little more than a straw man.

Dawkins took part in a discussion on the BBC’s Radio 4 two weeks ago on ‘Altruism’ (its nature and origins; must God be hypothesised for altruism to be possible?). I was unable to listen to most of this, but I did tune in at the point where Dawkins was suggesting that altruism was genetically programmed in the human race as a result of ancient peoples living in small communities which originally had no contact with other communities. Their genetically programmed feelings of good will towards each other were then uncorrected when they came into contact with other peoples who were not of their community, and towards whom good will might not have served an evolutionary purpose. I waited for the outburst of scorn this piece of absurdity should have merited, but it never came.

Subsequently in The Times newspaper, there was a raft of correspondence saying how wonderful it had been to listen to reasonable people disproving the necessity of a causal link between altruism and God, and making a sound case for altruism as having arisen entirely through natural mechanisms.

I sometimes think I am not long for this world when I hear this kind of nonsense being paraded as wisdom. Not for the first time, Romans 1:21-22 comes to mind.