Douglas Clark
-Head writer,
The Inspiration Engine
The God Delusion by Richard
Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and
writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was the University
of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.
Besides The God Delusion, he’s written many books. His writing career
took off in 1976, when he published The Selfish Gene, which popularized the
gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, his book
The Extended Phenotype explored the concept of evolutionary biology and the
concept of phenotypic effects of a gene. The idea being that the genes
influences are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can actually
affect the environment, including other organisms. The Blind Watchmaker,
published in 1986, argues against the intelligent design concept using the
watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator
based upon the complexity of living organisms.
Dawkins is also known for being a vocal atheist and speaking out
against the idea of any God-like figure responsible for the creation of the
universe and man. A man of science, he presents is findings with scientific
mindedness. Unflappable in his adherence to the scientific method and value of
provable evidence, he provides an effective counterbalance to theologians who
argue for belief in God on faith alone.
Brief Description
Dawkins takes a logical, analytical approach in an attempt to prove his point that there is no god, and those who believe in one, are delusional. Employing scientific elements like the scientific method, logic, reason, and evidence brought to light from figures such as Charles Darwin, Dawkins leads the reader through a detailed rendering of what the world looks like when fact and reason replace faith and belief.
Memorable quotes
“The God of the Old Testament is
arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it;
a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic
cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal,
filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously
malevolent bully.”
“To be fair, much of the Bible is
not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a
chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised,
translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors
and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine
centuries”
“There is something infantile in
the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life
meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as
meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”
“Do those people who hold up the
Bible as an inspiration to moral rectitude have the slightest notion of what is
actually written in it?”
What makes this book Unique or
special….
Dawkins isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and he doesn’t really care if
offends you. He writes in a way that bluntly informs the reader most things
religious are really disguises for unholy things designed for nefarious
purposes. Where once it meant death for speaking out against God and his
doctrines, Dawkins takes liberty with society’s current free speech reality and
beats up on the age old accepted belief that God is immutable and indisputable.
He points to specific logical fallacies, misdirections, and flagrant lies
religion has told over the past few millennia to disprove any deity and directs
the reader to the logical alternative of Science. In his mind, religion and God
are untenable when examined under the scrutiny of the scientific method and
logical reasoning.
Readability
Although English, most American readers won’t have a problem following
his narrative style. Occasionally he’ll refer to something clearly English,
leaving the reader somewhat displaced by his analogy or reference. For the most
part he is easy to follow and isn’t overly verbose. There are sections,
however, that do seem to lag on, delving too far into what I felt were
digressions not exactly necessary to prove his point.
Final Thoughts
Definitely worth reading. If you expect to be offended, you probably
will be. If you have an open mind, you’ll find his ideas and progressions
refreshing and stimulating.
Thanks for Reading.
Question and comments are welcome.
