Dennett and Dawkins Grapple With Death

By Wayne Brown
D&D dance around the terrible reality of death.

It's fascinating to watch two of the world's leading atheists grapple with the big issue that religion supposedly deals with. Typically, Dawkins waxes eloquent, firing off an impressive display of wordy fireworks that almost makes you forget what he's talking about.

We see them both grasping for "big ideas" that make life make sense. To my mind, they both avoid what Buddha saw: that suffering is inevitable. Suffering must be faced head-on. The "self" is ephemeral. All things come to an end.

What D&D are doing is making death part of a grand and compelling story, which is exactly what "religion" does.

Death is a terrible tragedy. Is it not possible to face it without fear, without rationalization?

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