Arch-atheist Richard Dawkins SUPPORTS plan for free bibles in schools

Scientist 'shocked' all schools didn't already have one

But admits he hopes scheme will put pupils off religion

'Whatever else Bible might be, it is not a moral book'

Unlikely supporter: Atheistic scientist Richard Dawkins (above) is backing a Government scheme that is supplying state schools with King James Bibles

He is the arch-atheist whose best-selling book The God Delusion argues that belief in a supernatural creator is irrational and harmful to society.

So it may come as some surprise to learn that Richard Dawkins has thrown his full support into a scheme to send free King James Bibles to every state school.

The plan, backed by Church leaders, was announced by Education Secretary Michael Gove earlier this year in the hope children will learn about the religious text's impact 'on our history, language, literature and democracy'.

The National Secular Society were, unsurprisingly, outraged, saying the £375,000 proposal was a waste of money and favoured Christianity when many schools needed to accommodate several faiths.

Dawkins, you might think, would be among the critics.

But he said he was 'a little shocked' that every school did not already have a copy and that he would have contributed financially to the scheme if he had been approached.

Writing in The Observer, he says it contains a wealth of literary merit and refers back to a section in The God Delusion in which he lists 129 biblical phrases which any educated speaker would recognise.

The bible delusion? Mr Dawkins hopes the scheme will open children's eyes to what he perceives to be moral corruption in the religious text (file picture)

'A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian,' he adds.

However, he admits to having an ulterior motive in backing the scheme as he hopes it will actually put pupils off religion.

He highlights how long wars have been fought over how to interpret words 'allegedly uttered' at the Last Supper and how centuries-long schisms were based on 'nothing more serious' than whether Jesus is both God and his son or just his son.

Bad influence? Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, an event which, Mr Dawkins claims, has triggered long wars due to arguments over the interpretation of words 'allegedly uttered' during the meal

He also describes the Ten Commandments as horrors' and pointed out how some fundamental Protestants still take them literally.

He said: 'People who do not know the bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality.