(review)
The God Delusion is a book by biologist Richard Dawkins, who is a best-selling author and a prominent figure in the atheist movement.
Knowing the Bible well, the author raises awareness about the question of God and invites readers to explore the complexities of religion. Therefore, delving into the intriguing aspects of faith and disbelief while critically examining the belief in God promotes a more rational way of viewing the world.
The book consists of ten chapters:
1. A Deeply Religious Non-Believer
2. The God Hypothesis
3. Arguments for God’s Existence
4. Why There Are Almost Certainly No God
5. The Roots of Religion
6. The Roots of Morality: Why Are We Good?
7. The ‘Good’ Book and the Changing Moral Zeitgeist
8. What’s Wrong with Religion? Why Be So Hostile?
9. Childhood, Abuse, and the Escape from Religion
10. A Much Needed Gap?
Dawkins’ writing is not only for effect; it can be seen as a cry for rationality that inspires readers to question long-held beliefs, while exposing the gruesome aspects: genocide, innocent sacrifices and gang rape. Consequently, this book can be seen as an introduction to less morally instructive stories in the Bible.
Quotes:
We don’t need God to be good or bad.
Are you telling me that the only reason you strive to be good is to gain God’s approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That’s not morality, it’s flattery… In the words of Einstein, “If people are good only because they fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a truly deplorable species.”
It’s remarkable, when you think about it, that a religion would choose as its holy symbol an instrument of torture and execution, often worn around the neck as an ornament. Lenny Bruce rightly poked fun at this, saying, “If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school kids would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.”
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