In John Harris's latest interview in his National Conversations series, he challenges Richard Dawkins on his view that religious belief is comparable to a pernicious virus

Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, has been preaching genetics for more than three decades now, challenging those who harbour religious dogma and waving the flag for atheism.

But, John Harris asks, what about the comfort, community, and moral teachings that religion offers? Can Dawkins really despise that with all the passion he professes to hate religious dogma?

Dawkins insists that even Jesus would have plumped for atheism had he known what we now know. Harris and Dawkins place themselves on the latter's seven-point "scale of belief". Turns out Harris is less sure of his atheism than Dawkins, for whom God is as likely to exist as "fairies, pixies, and werewolves".

Harris and Dawkins leave no stone unturned in this interview: the politics of religion; the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the UK; why our government won't debate faith schools; and how beleaguered US Bible belt atheists embrace Dawkins like a long-lost friend.

* Watch a video interview with Richard Dawkins