Richard Dawkins Lecture
I had the honor and the fortune to attend a lecture by Prof Richard Dawkins tonight.   I will be bragging about to my grandchildren so don't expect me to hold back here.     The Ticket was free. A public lecture.  We should see more of these. All science lectures should be public and free.
     Anyway, the Liverpool Philharmonic was packed to the rafters, which I think is a good sign.     His lecture was one Ive seen before on tv, and was largely based around The God Delusion, outlining the different types of gods and calling into question why religion should get special treatment and be untouched by criticism when they request public funding, their own schools, their own swimming sessions in our public pools, their own laws ans tax exemption.  He also asked why we call children `a catholic child, a muslim child` ect when we wouldn't dream of calling them `a socialist child, a conservative child` and so fourth. He stressed he was focusing on Abrahamic religions and set ideas of god,and rules and holy books, not pantheism or deism or any kind of poetic idea of a god of consciousness.

   Then came the good bit.  Question Time With the People Of Liverpool.  I feel for the man I really do.
  
  "Hi Mr Dawkins"

"good evening"

" Ok, do you believe that man evolved from chimps?"

"No I believe chimpanzees and mankind had a common ancestor"

"Oh well ok, well if we and chimps evolved from something else and chimps are more primitive then why are chimps still alive?"

"Oh you can not be SERIOUS! surely that isn't your question!"

  And then followed a lengthy explanation by Dawkins which there is no need for me to go into here.

"Ok then" says the man,"But how can chimps still be alive when they practice infanticide"

*stunned silence*   "I'm sorry....I don' follow, I cant answer that question it doesn't make sense"

"well I have another question"

"go..on...."

"You said religion is a disease that children catch from their parents"

"I did"

"well china has the fasted growing rate of catholicism in the world so how do you explain that?"

"well your parents aren't the only ones you can catch this virus off, missionaries are a great source of infection"
*audience applauds*

"yes but you also said most people stick to their parents religions but the Chinese aren't so how do you explain it?"

" well I cant really, I don't know much about it"

"And you didn't know anything about the chimps either did you" says the man smugly
   A small group clap, probably from the catholic cathedral next door.

 Then another woman stood up and said in the loudest most (ironically) arrogant voice  "don't you think YOU ARE ARROGANT to write books on the none existence of God when you cant prove it and you don;t know the answer."  She ranted for about 5 minutes repeating the word arrogant five or six times.
   "maybe its arrogant for me to assume the celestial teapot doesn't exist, I guess it is by your definition"
          You know, I welcome theists challenging atheism, but there are ways to ask good questions in a proper tone of voice, but this woman was attempting to sound like a headmistress telling off a naughty school boy. you could hear the indignation in her voice, she must have sat through the entire lecture seething and feeling threatened.  She wouldn't give the sodding microphone back.
    There followed several good questions, some theistic and some atheistic, but those two ejjits were the highlight of question time.  I bet theyll think twice before giving scousers a microphone and a soapbox again.
  
At the end of the evening, Dawkins was in the foyer signing books.   Well it just so happened I brought my God delusion along.  He had said in the lecture he didn't have time for personal dedications, he was just going to sign the books.
    He seemed less friendly and shyer than Ray Mears when I went to a lecture and book sign by him last year, but as I got up close to Dawkins I saw he was pale, sweating and more tired and old than he appears on any of his pictures.

Perhaps he doesn't talk to people much at the signing because sooner or later he will have someone trying to debate him.To be honest, I'm not surprised he looked so guarded and sweaty, I was there with my sisters boyfriend and he said "You know someone could attack or assassinate him right now"    I bet at the very least he gets verbal abuse from people at book signings.  He must never know if the next person is going to thank him or spit in his face.

    I saw several people had left letters on his table.   I gave him my book and he gave a very tired smile and signed it in tiny writing.     Id like to have said something but I couldn't think of anything. I just made faltering eye contact and smiled back.