The God delusion / The Dawkins delusion

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#1

I’m not really suggesting these as group reads but I do think they are two books definitly worth reading. Religion is still one of the most important and talked about topics in the world and the more we know about all facets of relgion the better we’d be.

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins - Wiki Amazon A book most of us would have heard about but perhaps less of us have read. At times scathing, brutal and occasionly disgusting it is however very hard to put down. Whilst many of us see religion as something to be respected Dawkins sees it as something to be examined, processed and broken down, whilst he may take some ‘selective views’ of religion he offers many interesting opinions on the debate of religion and I for one believe relgion should be debated (though perhaps with a bit more respect for people’s beliefs than Dawkins offers)

The Dawkins Delusion - Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath - Wiki Amazon - Taking the view that you should only make up your mind when you’ve heard both sides of the argument I bought this book. In it McGrath(s) breakdown Most of the points made in Dawkin’s book and point out where there failings are, ranging from lack of understanding to incorrect sources or in a couple of instances prejudice this book makes a compelling rebuttel to Dawkin’s own.

Whether you’re atheist or Relgious prepare to have some of your opinions tested and possibly altered by these two books, The one major criticism I would cite at both of them though is their tendancy to focus solely on the Christian faith, I would love to hear the views from a hindu, Sikh or other religion.

If any of you have any suggestions of books examining relgions and cultures I would be interested in knowing them.

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#2

I’ve only leafed through Dawkins’ book, though rather thoroughly (I can’t believe I haven’t heard the phrase, “hey, this isn’t a lending library!” at Barnes and Noble yet) as well as Chris Hitchens’ “God is not Great,” which makes Dawkins’ book sound downright friendly towards religions. Both of these authors have serious, personal issues with religion but both make some very good arguments (though you have to sift through a lot of vitriol in Hitchens’ case). I haven’t read through “The Dawkins Delusion” because the title itself seems to miss the point to me, but then, that’s a big problem on my part, given your description (I shall have to rectify this and take a look at it soon).

I read a book this summer by Daniel C. Dennet called Breaking the Spell in which he argues for much of the same examination Dawkins calls for but from a more neutral perspective (he starts the book with the explanation that neither theism nor atheism are good enough for him because both require too much belief in something that cannot be quantified or certified, for instance). His suggestion is that religion, which is such an important and volatile facet of modern life, needs to be understood from a sociological and evolutionary perspective if we are to avoid destroying ourselves because of (often very small) doctrinal differences and fundamentalist interpretations.