the god delusion
I received Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion as a Christmas present. Again, just like with my copy of Fabulous Small Jews, please take a moment to process the irony.
I’m sure you’ve heard of this book by now. The man is everywhere. Dawkins has been writing about science and religion for years, but it’s The God Delusion that seems to have really catapulted him into popular culture. He’s even been parodied on South Park. I particularly enjoyed his interview with Stephen Colbert back in October.
So, how is it? “Unforgiving” is the word I’d pick. Dawkins is uncompromising and unapologetic in his relentless critique of religious belief. He refuses to treat religion with the usual academic respect it is usually afforded, arguing that such kid gloves defeat the point of the argument in the first place, and moreover, that religion is undeserving of such special treatment anyway.
As you’d expect, the book’s tone is extremely polarizing. One reviewer called it “appallingly bitchy.” There’s one argument that says that such arrogant, self-righteous writing will do nothing to increase the dialogue between religion and science, and may in fact hurt it. I would argue, however, that Dawkins has little to no interest in such a dialogue, and I’m really quite alright with that. Religious leaders of almost every denomination feel free to say that they are right and the dissenting opinions are irrelevant. Frankly, I am glad that Dawkins is bold enough to do the same for the other side.
Flaws? Sure. Dawkins is very self-referential and I wish he would find ways to illustrate his arguments without referring to his previous writing so much (it seems to be a character flaw–check out the pull quotes on the left column of his website). I also wish he hadn’t devoted that slice of one chapter to showing that Hitler was probably religious. The messianic imagery of the Third Reich is copious and well documented, sure, but you could also mount a convincing case for Hitler being a ruthless evolutionary biologist. It just seemed like a weird point to belabor when the rest of the book is so much stronger. It’s also difficult to read when groggy on the morning commute, but that’s neither here nor there.
Overall, I’d strongly recommend picking up a copy of The God Delusion. It is strongly written and at times hilarious, a very good read indeed. If nothing else, it is an excellent repository of some of the most interesting things said and done in the name of religion. The opening chapter on Einstein alone is probably worth the price of hardcover.
That’s been on my reading list for a while, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. The End of Faith by Sam Harris is… well, not so hilarious, but pretty much on the same subject with a different approach. I was reading the book while I was in Boston, but didn’t finish until I got back to L.A. The basis of his argument is that, in this day and age, we can’t afford to let people maintain unjustifiable, apocalyptic beliefs because they’ll get us all killed. This, of course, has implications regarding the concept of tolerance that I don’t entirely agree with, but can’t really find any flaws in the logic. Nevertheless, I’m glad the idea of putting religion under the same microscope of criticism as everything else is finally getting some mainstream exposure.
If you liked Dawkins (& Harris), I’d submit Jamie Whyte’s “Crimes Against Logic” for your approval.