The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Nov. 29th, 2009 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
There is no descriptive Blurb on the Back, instead we get the following quotes:
A polemic with the self-proclaimed intention of converting readers to atheism, this was and remains a deeply controversial book. Dawkins uses each of his chapters to tackle each of the most common challenges to his atheism, skewering theological arguments with a bewitching mixture of scientific rationalism and glee.
Creationism comes in for particular attention, taken apart argument by argument with an inexorable attention to detail that is compelling. If you’re an atheist or agnostic, then this will reinforce your beliefs. If you’re religious – whatever your faith – then it’s questionable to what extent this book will change your views, mainly due to the tone that Dawkins takes. He has no sympathy for people with religious beliefs given that he views the evidence against the existence of God as being so compelling, but then he’s not out to win any friends, particularly among fundamentalists who he appears to view with contempt.
The one place where Dawkins’s argument is likely to miss with religious and atheist readers alike is in Chapter 9 where he compares bringing up children to a religious belief to child abuse and then goes on to say that it is in fact worse even than sexual abuse. He later concedes that it may not be so bad as sodomy suffered by boys, which calls into question his earlier complaint that religion is inherently misogynistic and homophobic, given that atheism could be argued to view abuse as more tolerable when it’s carried out against girls. The basis for his argument appears to lie from the testimony of one woman who viewed being raised as Roman Catholic and told about hell as worse than the sexual abuse that she suffered.
This is a shame because all in all, this a thought-provoking book and has certainly enabled me to firm up my own views on religion and if nothing else, will give you a solid crash course in Darwinism and current biological thinking.
The Verdict:
A challenging, uncompromising polemic, this is easily one of the most important books of the 21st century, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Dawkins and his arguments.
There is no descriptive Blurb on the Back, instead we get the following quotes:
”... entertaining, wildly informative, splendidly written ... we are elegantly cajoled, cleverly harangued into shedding ourselves of this superstitious nonsense that has bedevilled us since our first visit to Sunday school.”
- Rod Liddle, Sunday Times
”A spirited and exhilarating read ... Dawkins comes roaring forth in the full vigous of his powerful arguments.”
- Joan Bakewell, Guardian
”Passionate, clever, funny, uplifting and above all, desperately needed.”
- Daily Express
”A wonderful book ... joyous, elegant, fair, engaging, and often very funny ... informed throughout by an exhilarating breadth of reference and clarity of thought.”
- Michael Frayn
”Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion should be read by everyone from atheist to monk. If its merciless rationalism doesn’t enrage you at some point, you probably aren’t alive.”
- Julian Barnes
”There is not a dull page in Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, a book that makes me want to cheer its clarity, intelligence and truth-telling.”
- Claire Tomalin
A polemic with the self-proclaimed intention of converting readers to atheism, this was and remains a deeply controversial book. Dawkins uses each of his chapters to tackle each of the most common challenges to his atheism, skewering theological arguments with a bewitching mixture of scientific rationalism and glee.
Creationism comes in for particular attention, taken apart argument by argument with an inexorable attention to detail that is compelling. If you’re an atheist or agnostic, then this will reinforce your beliefs. If you’re religious – whatever your faith – then it’s questionable to what extent this book will change your views, mainly due to the tone that Dawkins takes. He has no sympathy for people with religious beliefs given that he views the evidence against the existence of God as being so compelling, but then he’s not out to win any friends, particularly among fundamentalists who he appears to view with contempt.
The one place where Dawkins’s argument is likely to miss with religious and atheist readers alike is in Chapter 9 where he compares bringing up children to a religious belief to child abuse and then goes on to say that it is in fact worse even than sexual abuse. He later concedes that it may not be so bad as sodomy suffered by boys, which calls into question his earlier complaint that religion is inherently misogynistic and homophobic, given that atheism could be argued to view abuse as more tolerable when it’s carried out against girls. The basis for his argument appears to lie from the testimony of one woman who viewed being raised as Roman Catholic and told about hell as worse than the sexual abuse that she suffered.
This is a shame because all in all, this a thought-provoking book and has certainly enabled me to firm up my own views on religion and if nothing else, will give you a solid crash course in Darwinism and current biological thinking.
The Verdict:
A challenging, uncompromising polemic, this is easily one of the most important books of the 21st century, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Dawkins and his arguments.
