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Religion & Spirituality |
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The God Delusion
written by Richard Dawkins
Studio : Mariner Books
by Mariner Books
Publisher : Mariner Books
Released : 2008-01-16
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780618918249
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 1265 reviews)
List Price : $15.95
Our Price : $2.98
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Product Description |
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In his sensational international bestseller, the preeminent scientist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins delivers a hard-hitting, impassioned, but humorous rebuttal of religious belief. With rigor and wit, Dawkins eviscerates the arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of the existence of a supreme being. He makes a compelling case that faith is not just irrational, but potentially deadly. In a preface written for the paperback edition, Dawkins responds to some of the controversies the book has incited. This brilliantly argued, provocative book challenges all of us to test our beliefs, no matter what beliefs we hold. |
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Dawkins as Usual |
The atheist's position has always seemed a curious one, since by definition it involves proving a negative. All good theologians from Tertullian to Ruhollah Khomeiny will happily tell you they have no idea what they mean when they use the word "God." So it's as if you're given a Navaho word, let's say "Dzihl," without being told what it means. The atheist then says, "Dzihl definitely doesn't exist. I say this with certainty, despite the fact that I have no idea what Dzihl is."
To argue that God doesn't exist because we can explain the Universe without Him seems equally curious. We can explain European history satisfactorily without reference to Beethoven's music. Beethoven's music nevertheless exists.
Dawkins' book is not going to convince, or even sway, one single person. He must know this: so what is it in fact but another expression of his Jehovah-sized ego?
Apart from vanity and arrogance, the most striking feature is sheer ignorance. He plainly has not read even the most basic sources, theological, philosophical, historical, that bear on this complex subject. He advances stale chestnuts as novelties and relies on arguments exploded a thousand years ago. What would he think about a theologian who wrote a book debunking evolutionary biology without reading so much as a high-school level textbook on the subject?
It is hardly news that people do bad stuff, nor that religion has nothing to do with this. The 20th century, the Age of Science, has also justly been called the Age of Genocide. The belief that "eliminating superstition" would bring peace and harmony was abandoned by thinking people after the First World War.
I have no religious beliefs myself, yet I can see that religion is, no contest, the most universal and influential phenomenon in human history. To despise religion is to despise the human race. To dismiss religion is to dismiss the human race. "Rationalists" who consider themselves members of a superior species are at least as dangerous as any Inquisitor or fundamentalist zealot.
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A Book for Every Thinking Person's "Must Read" List |
One will readily expect the perceptions and reviews of Richard Dawkins' THE GOD DELUSION to fall along what might euphemistically be called "party lines." Blue Staters, rationalists, and the college educated (especially in mathematics, engineering, the sciences, and technology) will find it thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating even if they disagree with the author's views. Red Staters, religious fundamentalists, and readers (if any) with less than a college education will be repulsed, likely to pit it against the Bible and regard Mr. Dawkins' as already marked for hellfire and eternal damnation. In the broad sweep that is religion, few minds will be changed, but was that really the author's objective? I think not.
Mr. Dawkins offers clues to his game plan fairly early on, arguing that atheists have no reason to be apologetic. He argues vigorously against the, "I'm an atheist, but..." position offered by many, treating it as an unnecessary concession to the forces of blind, irrational faith who would never reciprocate. Mr. Dawkins sets out as well to convince agnostics (among whom I've long considered myself) that their position is an unfounded hedge, hoping to convince them that outright atheism is the only logical conclusion to be drawn from so many arguments. His arguments are direct and persuasive, and I for one will confess to being swayed far closer to his position than previously.
THE GOD DELUSION is thorough in its approach and exceedingly well structured. Presenting his case like a lawyer in an extended closing argument, Dawkins moves from chapter to chapter setting up his opponents' many historical arguments for the existence of God and religion and then demolishing each of them by force of reason and scientific argument. He does this in a direct and highly readable, almost colloquial style, while injecting a sense of wry humor throughout that serves admirably to lighten the discussion. Dawkins demonstrates a remarkable scientific, philosophical, and even pop cultural range, with multiple references to the incomparable, much missed Douglas Adams. To my great surprise, he draws as well on theories from Lee Smolin (multiple universes emerging from black holes in a Darwinian, evolutionary style) and Julian Jaynes (theories of the origins of human consciousness in the bicameral mind), both of whose books I read some years ago and had thought long since forgotten by most. Equally enlightening for me were Dawkins extensive quotes from America's Founding Fathers, making it eminently clear (despite so many right wing conservative statements to the contrary) that the United States was not formed as a Christian state, nor that of any other religion. To the contrary, the Founding Fathers appear, by their own words, largely to have been atheists, or at least atheistic leaning agnostics.
Review readers should note that Dawkins does not simply confine himself to the question of existence of a higher being. He addresses issues of altruistic behavior and morality from an evolutionary perspective, debates the relative merits of religion over the course of human history, and presents (in Chapter 9) a devastating argument against the worldwide forced inculcation of children into religious belief by their parents. Quoting Victor Hugo at the opening of that chapter, "There is in every village a torch - the teacher; and an extinguisher - the clergyman." From my own life experience, seldom have truer words been spoken.
With well over a thousand reviews posted on Americancivilwar alone, I see no reason to summarize the book's content or arguments. In fact, the only way to do real justice to the author's positions is to read it in its entirety - no summary can adequately convey Dawkins' step-by-step demolition of those who argue on behalf of God, faith, or religion. For those who have doubts in these areas and those who are left queasy over the clear and present danger religious fundamentalism poses to democratic American institutions and its role in international terrorism and the threat of broad scale war, THE GOD DELUSION is an excellent palliative. Large swaths of post-millennial America are moving increasingly toward theocracy, a trend viewed with alarm by most of the rest of the educated, Western world. One need only look at the disturbing comments from Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin (expecting to see the Messiah return in her lifetime and incorporating the end of days into her admittedly limited foreign policy views) to see just how close to reality this is becoming.
For those who consider themselves even minimally open-minded on the subject of religion and the existence of an all-powerful being ("whatever you conceive him to be, hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin" in the immortal words of the National Lampoon), THE GOD DELUSION is a book well worth reading and contemplating.
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Dawkins is goofy |
While he makes many good points, it seems like the book constantly comes back to Dawkins defending himself instead of attacking religion. As an atheist I understand what its like to live in a religious world and be ridiculed and mocked for not believing in the supernatural, but Dawkins seems to take it a step too far.
I've also never seen someone quote themselves so often in one book. |
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Preaching to the choir... |
However good intentions Mr. Dawkins has when he wrote this book, it's like preaching to the choir: although there are a lot of "hidden atheists" or religion practioners who, deep inside, know about the absurdity and implausibility of the all-powerufl God above, the great majority of religious people are blind as a bat to the convicing and clear evidences of the falseness and evilness of organized religion.
So, a brilliant book like this one will obtain almost nothing in his objective: opening the mind of people blinded by years of brain washing. So, only people who already share his views will like this book. It's like preaching to the choir. |
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Thank you Richard Dawkins |
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We are lucky to have Richard Dawkins alive in our lifetime. He is perhaps one of the most brilliant and accessible scientists ever to write for the public. This book will change the perspective of anyone whose mind is open to change. His arguments are unfailingly rational, insightful, common-sense, humorous and crystal clear. I cannot concieve of an equally compelling rebuttal. |
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