Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion: A Book Review



As has happened recently with books, a copy of The God Delusion was put in my hands. Thus I ventured down Richard Dawkins’ road for the first time. Religious debates aside—they are not the point of this post, and as Dawkins points out, these debates tend to get heated fast—Dawkins makes a case against religion and the existence of God. For some, as already noted, this idea is controversial and sacrilegious, something that could place them in the depths of hell and brimstone, but for those with an open mind, give this text a look.

Dawkins lays out a case, like it or love it, and in this case he uses the biological perspective first, then he ventures into the philosophical. The latter allows Dawkins to questions the inner workings of both man, the universe, and God. He brings up physics, the creation of the universe, questions omnipotence and fairness, and even digs into the annals of human morality by bringing up study after study on the subject. Objectively speaking, the data here is great, shocking at times, but interconnected in a way that fits his case. Subjectively, some may be offended, but one need only see the Duckbilled Platypus to see that God has a sense of humor (Kevin Smith can be credited with that joke).

While many people will jump on the defensive from the get go here, the point of this text is to ask questions. Give it a read, do not get angry, and if you are not swayed, move on knowing that you now understand the thoughts and logic of those that are. Either way, Dawkins is active on social media, especially twitter, so you can engage him there.

No comments:

Post a Comment