Some of Durham's Humanist Society members with Richard Dawkins
It is quite interesting to look back and reflect on how short a period it was between the time I first heard about Richard Dawkins and the first time I got the honour to be in his presence. The first exposure I got from this great man was through a University friend, Laurence Dawson, who was reading his very last book, the highly controversial book “The God Delusion”. At that time, I was quite convinced that this would be the kind of book I’d never really bother reading. I was already an atheist at the time, but I wasn’t particularly interested in atheism itself, I was just one of those people that simply couldn’t be satisfied by religious beliefs. Also, having lived in a truly secular country (France) where religious people kept to themselves (albeit the very occasion intolerant Catholic namely one who’d make uneducated remarks such as “I hate Muslims for copying everything from Christianity” and would write on her pencil case “long live God” and “long live the king” [what king ?]), I wasn’t really bothered by religion. France is one of those countries where you don’t have to fake church attendance to get into a good school, because of France’s strong stance on state/church separation (maybe there’s a correlation to be found here with the fact that France has a majority of atheists ?). I later re-discovered Richard Dawkins as an evolutionary biologist and from there, my interest in his work started to grow quite rapidly. The pivotal moment that turned me into a unconditional admirer of the Oxford Professor was when I read “The Selfish Gene”. It was such a wonderful piece of writing that it renewed my interest with the field of Evolutionary Biology. There is so much more to say about the theory of evolution than what is taught in high schools in France (although I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard that this particular chapter of biology was explored in more depth in the French educational system than it was in the UK’s or the US’s). Professor Dawkins was truly a man that knew his subject. In the midst of this newfound interest however, I also started paying more attention to his other message, the one that underlined his strong atheistic stance. At that point in time, intelligent design was creeping its way into the spotlight (and into classrooms), revealing America’s deep ignorance on so simple a theory. I was also taken by surprise by the lengths at which the Christian Union in Durham would go to be heard not only by their own adherents, but by everyone. The provocative “Know Truth” slogans seemed to multiply over a special week that apparently was set up every year. I could easily understand why some of my University friends seemed so hostile towards religion (note I say religion rather than the religious individuals themselves) and the exasperation started to grow on me too. This did eventually spur me on to read “The God Delusion” which turned out to be quite a good read (although it doesn’t beat the genius of “The Selfish Gene” in my opinion). Before Dawkins is blamed for my more radical view of religion, I’d like to point out that I was already generally more outspoken about religion before I even bought the book. It was the plain fact of living in a country where religion still meddled with other non-religious people’s lives and hearing people honestly state their opposition to gay rights that got me started (not to mention the growth of ID on the other side of the Atlantic). The book served only as an amplifier of that opposition. I’ve also read the “the Blind Watchmaker”, another great book (although “The Selfish Gene” remains THE favorite) which ultimately would become the book in my collection that would bare the signature of the author himself.
My opportunity to meet Richard Dawkins came when I joined the Durham Humanist Society. Noticing in first year that the Humanist Society was gathering dust, Laurence and I set out to create our own society, the Rationalist Society. However, to my great delight, the Humanist Society did pick up in my second year at University and I immediately joined, leaving my plans to found my own society behind. Little did I know at the time that I would have the immense pleasure to witness and be part of the creation of the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Students Societies which emcompassed 11 societies from different Universities and that at its inauguration in London, I would meet my mentor. I obviously always clung to the hope that we would one day get Richard Dawkins to speak in Durham, but even by my most optimistic predictions, I didn’t really expect him to show up anytime soon. I obviously let out a very vocal burst of excitement when I discovered that I could be part of a trip to London that could very potentially result in seeing the legend in the flesh.There was no doubt as to whether I was going or not. I was going.
And so I went there, I met him. We were in quite a small comittee, things were quite casual. A lot of students conversed quite freely with him. I cannot boast to have said very much to him, being the shy person I am. I did manage to get him to sign my book and participate in our society picture (I got some of my words mixed up on that second request). But what’s important for me is that I got to see him and tell him how much I admired his work. And it has to be said that, for someone who is asked to sign so many books every five minutes, he’s quite a nice person. And now I get to show off my picture with Dawkins and make some of my friends jealous.
