Dawkins is an atheist and is outspoken about his beliefs. He is a science writer who uses his scientific naturalistic worldview to support atheism. He believes that God is not a complete explanation for the creation of the complex biological structures. He believes religion is not based on evidence and this is a great evil. He believes that religion is incompatible with science because it has no evidence to support it claims such as punishment in hell for sinners after they die. He believes religion does not give answers to cosmological questions.
Dawkins is of the opinion that every belief must be supported by logic and evidence. According to him, science and religion are separate and the attempt to relate them is a political ploy. He does not agree with some scientists who were religious for example Stephen Joy Gould who came up with the principle of nonoverlapping magisterial.
His opinion is beneficial to the extent where it addresses the issue of religious extremism. Some religious people have used religion to perpetrate evil against other human beings. A good example is the suicide bombers who kill in the name of their ‘God’ for instance in the Islam religion anyone who dies in the cause of Allah is assured of an automatic place in paradise. This is an explanation for many terrorists’ attacks executed by some Islam extremists in the name of religion. When religion is used this way then it becomes an evil and causes so much suffering to people who are not even related to it.
Therefore, when he demands that all beliefs should have evidence he is probably right because if people stopped and ask for evidence they would not be brainwashed to believe untrue things. Dawkins feels that religion can be used as an excuse to perpetrate evil in the society for example during slavery in South America some slave masters used religion to justify their actions against the people they took in as slaves. They simply enslaved people who were pagans. Due to the difference in religious beliefs, they oppressed a certain people and denied them their basic human rights.
On the other hand, some people are labeled simply because they are born to parents who subscribe to a certain religion. This stereotyping is wrong as it may lead some people to experience prejudice because of their religion. This becomes possible because some people’s names can be traced to a certain religion therefore, making it easy to stereotype them. He also feels that children should not be indoctrinated to any religion but should be allowed to make a choice.