I just got back from a Richard Dawkins lecture, part of his Darwin 2009 tour.
This is probably going to be the most widely-known of the lectures, because when State Representative Ted Thomsen caught wind of Dawkins' lecture, he immediately tried to ban him from the state. No joke. http://www.richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=74468
Well, first I left class early with my friend Hayden, and we made the 45 minute drive from Oklahoma City to the OU Campus in Norman. We chilled at Starbucks for an hour or so, and I had a Chai Tea for the first time (It was great). When the parking lot was opened, we parked and sat outside the Field House, the location of the lecture. I had the opportunity to talk to R.J., the DJ of a radio station called Shocknet Radio, and Gene Rhoden, a storm chaser who is responsible for many recordings of severe weather. I had a great time talking to them. We got seats fairly early, and so I got a great view of Dawkins, and there was a fair turn-out, enough to fill the equivelent of an exceptionatly large high school gymnasium.
Dawkins opened the talk with a response to Thomsen's attempt to prevent the lecture, which stirred a nice reaction from the many athesits that turned up to see him. He gave some very warm compliments to the campus as well as to our state, despite the horrible welcome he recieved from our rather stupid State Representative. The highlight of his introduction was when he said "Obviously, this man does not represent the people of the fine state of Oklahoma", to great applause.
The entire lecture was incredible, but I sadly had to leave durning the Q&A session, though I might be lucky enough to catch a recording of the lecture somewhere on the net so I can see the whole thing.
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Heh, thats cool. Although I do have to say, "Preaching to the converted". He was just doing what all decent politicians do win favors with the general populous, i.e. telling them what they want to hear. Would have been interesting though, would like to see a link for the audio.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be suprised. I saw several Christians (You could tell by their attire) at the lecture. It was primarily a talk on evolution, aside from the introduction.
ReplyDeleteHeh, assuming someones religious belief via their attire. Never would be able to do that it where I live, except perhaps for Sheiks and more "fundamental" Muslims.
ReplyDeleteWell, not very many atheists wear crosses around their necks and "Got Jesus" or "Texoma Church Camp" t-shirts.
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