The God Delusion (Google eBook)A preeminent scientist -- and the world's most prominent atheist -- asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster. |
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Dawkins is a witty, clever writer. - Goodreads
I found this book difficult to read. - Goodreads
A well researched and written book. - Goodreads
Awful. Totally infantile writing. - Goodreads
But I didn't find his explanations/theories convincing. - Goodreads
not a real page turner, but i liked it none-the-less. - Goodreads
Review: The God Delusion
User Review - Gina Robertson - GoodreadsAlthough I liked and agreed with most of his points, I just find his tone so annoying. I can't blame him for the chip on his shoulder, given the irrational opposition and persecution that atheists ... Read full review
Review: The God Delusion
User Review - Valerie - GoodreadsWell I would be lying to say I finished it. I was just in no mood to be insulted, chastised, and repeatedly told what an idiot I am. I was prepared for scientific argument and actually quite looking ... Read full review
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Popular passages
Page 261 - And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us ; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Page 29 - There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.
Page 337 - And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Page 263 - ... but ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: for thou shalt worship no other god : for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God...
Page 284 - I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races...
Page 192 - he said. Into the valley of Death Kode the six hundred. " Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismayed ? Not though the soldiers knew Some one had blundered: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die, Into the valley of Death Kode the six hundred.
Page 110 - Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Page 284 - I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say, in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And...
Page 180 - It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinising, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest ; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good ; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life.
Page 66 - I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer ; until, at last, I came to the conclusion that I had neither art nor part with any of these denominations, except the last. The one thing in which most of these good people were agreed was the one thing in which I differed from them. They were quite sure they had attained a certain "gnosis...
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | The God Delusion |
| Author | Richard Dawkins |
| Edition | unabridged |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0547348665, 9780547348667 |
| Length | 416 pages |
| Subjects | › Religion / Philosophy Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |