I Went to Listen to Richard Dawkins Speak at a Christian Arts Festival
The militant atheist, evolutionary biologist and alleged eugenist.
I wrote last week about my weekend at Greenbelt — a longstanding Christian festival of music, arts and justice in the UK.
This was the 49th iteration of the festival — and the first after a two-year COVID-driven hiatus. So, Greenbelt has a long history and has travelled the journey many of us have travelled with the Christian faith.
It began firmly rooted in 1970s UK evangelicalism and loosened up during the 1990s with more political and socially aware speakers and artists invited.
Today, it deliberately sits at the intersection of faith, justice and activism.
Rainbow-clad gay couples mingle happily with older married couples from local churches. Muslims give seminars alongside bishops and American social activists. This year’s Saturday headliner was a non-binary performance poet.
But I don’t think another invited guest had caused as much of a stir as when Greenbelt offered the main stage platform to Professor Richard Dawkins on Bank Holiday Monday lunchtime. (August 29th 2022)
For those who might be unaware, Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist and…
