Have you read the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins?

  1. M. T. Dremer profile image84
    M. T. Dremerposted 12 years ago

    Have you read the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins?

    Richard Dawkins is probably one of the more well known names when it comes to atheism and the dangers of religion. I've heard his name mentioned many times in religious debates and I'm curious how many people have read his book 'The God Delusion'. This is a question for both atheists and theists. If you have read it; do you agree or disagree with his reasoning?

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  2. JMcFarland profile image70
    JMcFarlandposted 12 years ago

    I've read it multiple times, yes.  My Nook is filled with a lot of work - all the way from Pliny the younger, Tacitus, Origin, etc all the way through Dawkins, Darwin and Hitchins.  I like to study things, clearly.

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  3. Slarty O'Brian profile image82
    Slarty O'Brianposted 12 years ago

    I know the work. I've read a good deal of it, though not all. I agree with most of what I have read. But none of it is new. And Dawkins has his off moments as well, where his thinking is not as clear as it might be. But don't we all?

    Certainly religion has proven to be dangerous in the past. Particularly when it comes to atheists. Did you know that there are at least 5 countries where atheists are still executed if they are discovered?

    We just have to look at fundamentalist Islam these days to see the danger religion can pose for those who disagree with it. But it isn't just religion that is dangerous. Any idea that pits us against each other or excludes people, like nationalism for example, can become dangerous. Need we remind anyone of the second world war to prove that point?

    Dawkins also wrote about memes in one of his books. I think it was The Selfish Gene, if I remember correctly.

    In that book he makes the case that religion is like a virus: the mandate to pass it on, it's effects on the person infected, etc. But then many ideas are memes, not just religion. In fact I could make a case for many ideas being viral in nature. Some are beneficial and some very dangerous.

    I think Dawkins idea of militant atheism could be dangerous if it got out of hand and turned into a fundamentalist meme.

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