The Elvis Presley song that made Richard Dawkins believe in God

While Elvis Presley and Richard Dawkins may seem like an unlikely pair, they both left significant imprints on their respective fields. In his youth, Dawkins, like many of his generation, was captivated by the music of Elvis, recognising the profound influence of the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ on American culture. However, as Dawkins matured, he found himself moving away from Presley, not due to any criticism of his musical style but rather due to broader ideological differences.

Richard Dawkins is indeed a figure of controversy and influence in the realm of modern intellectual discourse. As a former professor at the University of Oxford, his seminal work The Selfish Gene, published in 1976, sparked significant debate and fascination. This book introduced the gene-centred view of evolution, which revolutionised understanding in the field and popularised the term “meme”, now ubiquitous in discussions of cultural evolution.

Beyond his contributions to evolutionary biology, Dawkins is perhaps best known as a vocal critic of creationism and a leading advocate for atheism. His outspoken stance against religious dogma and promotion of scientific scepticism has made him a polarising figure, drawing both admiration and criticism from various quarters of society.

However, there was once a time when he was not so ardent in rejecting the existence of a supernatural creator. In his 2013 book, An Appetite for Wonder, Dawkins explained that he was raised as an Anglican Christian, but he would become gradually disillusioned with the religion when growing up due to the doctrine of original sin. However, during this period of personal development, he still believed in God, as he believed that the wonder inherent to the natural world had to indicate a supreme being.

At the time, Dawkins was a big fan of Elvis Presley. “I worshipped Elvis, and I was a strong believer in a non-denominational creator god,” he recalled. One day, he noticed the American musician’s gospel EP Peace in the Valley in a shop window and was entranced by its sounds when he took it home. One song in particular, ‘I Believe’, called out to him, as it reinforced his faith. Famously, ‘The King’ was a lifelong Christian despite embodying sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

“I slipped the record out of the sleeve and onto the turntable,” Dawkins explained. “I listened with delight — for my hero sang that every time he saw the wonders of the natural world around him, he felt his religious faith reinforced. My own sentiments exactly! This was surely a sign from heaven.”

At the time, Dawkins didn’t know that Presley was religious and was surprised by this angle. “Why I was surprised that Elvis was religious is now beyond me,” he continued. “He came from an uneducated working-class family in the American South. How could he not have been religious?”

“Nevertheless, I was surprised at the time, and I sort of half-believed that in this unexpected record, Elvis was speaking personally to me, calling me to devote my life to telling people about the creator god — which I should be especially well-qualified to do if I became a biologist like my father,” he concluded.

It wouldn’t be long before Dawkins let go of religion as he started to delve into Darwinism and evolution. As we all know, he became “militantly atheistic” because of this intellectual journey.