無神論者 Dawkins 被問"What if you're wrong?"
英國學術界名人，進化生物學家，牛津大學教授道金斯 Richard Dawkins。他二十年前出版自私的基因 The Selfish Gene 一書，改變了人對進化論和生命的看法，因而成名。上年他出版極具爭議的 The God Delusion，用大膽有力的言辭地否定神的存在，更向世人指出宗教和盲目信仰的禍害。這本書迅即成為各大書店的 Best Seller，使他成為英國 Author of the Year 07，更在英文世界掀起一場激烈的宗教辯論：先後有多位神學家出書撰文抨擊道金斯，之後又有多位美國作家和哲學家加入辯論和出書支持英國學術界名人，進化生物學家，牛津大學教授道金斯 Richard Dawkins。他二十年前出版自私的基因 The Selfish Gene 一書，改變了人對進化論和生命的看法，因而成名。上年他出版極具爭議的 The God Delusion，用大膽有力的言辭地否定神的存在，更向世人指出宗教和盲目信仰的禍害。這本書迅即成為各大書店的 Best Seller，使他成為英國 Author of the Year 07，更在英文世界掀起一場激烈的宗教辯論：先後有多位神學家出書撰文抨擊道金斯，之後又有多位美國作家和哲學家加入辯論和出書支持他。這可算是近年少見的一場文化戰了。
他在美國一所大學以 The God Delusion 為題演講後的問答環節。一個基督徒尖銳地問："What if you're wrong?"，意思大約就是："你怎知道自己肯定對?" 道金斯絕妙的答案叫觀眾拍爛手掌，亦有不少傳媒報導。去片！
Well, what if I'm wrong? I mean, anybody could be wrong. We could all be wrong about the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Pink Unicorn and the Flying Teapot. You happened to have been brought up, I presume, in the Christian faith. You know what it's like not to believe in a particular faith, because you're not a Muslim, you're not a Hindu. Why aren't you a Hindu? Because you happened to have been brought up in America, not in India. If you have been brought up in India, you'd be a Hindu. If you were brought up in Denmark in the time of the Vikings, you'd be believing in Wotan and Thor. If you were brought up in Classical Greece, you'd be believing in Zeus. If you were brought up in Central Africa, you'd be believing in the Great Juju up the mountain. There's no particular reason to pick on the Judeo-Christian god, in which by the sheerest accident you happened to have been brought up (to believe), and ask me the question what if I'm wrong. What if you're wrong about the Great Juju at the bottom of the sea?"
至於 The Flying Teapot 就是有名的 "羅素的茶壺"，出自著名英國哲學家羅素 Bertrand Russell 筆下。神學家認為神是肯定存在的，除非有人能找到實則證據否定祂的存在。羅素則認為舉證的責任 (burden of proof) 在於想要證明事物存在的一方。否則他可以同樣說：有個茶壺在太空圍繞地球運行。大家明知這是假的，但如果跟據那些神學家的邏緝，我們就一定要接受這荒謬的說法了！因為我們沒有證據證明這個茶壺不存在呀。
