| |  | Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Category: Book
New (8) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $8.90
Rating:  1321 reviews
Sales Rank: 545415
Media: Paperback
Pages: 406
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0739481320
EAN: 9780739481325
ASIN: 0739481320
Publication Date: 2006
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| Customer Reviews:
 Why Richard Dawkins is not honest about the "God Delusion" December 28, 2008
2 out of 14 found this review helpful
Richard Dawkins wrote a few very interesting books such as the Selfish Gene and Climbing Mount improbable. But he is flagrantly dishonest about his alleged atheism: in an interview to a Brazilian newspaper, when
asked if God is obsolete, he answered that "when science will be able to explain the universe as a whole, God will be obsolete". So, as science will not be able to explain the universe "as a whole" in a foreseeable future (probably never, I think) for Dawkins, God is not obsolete, and will not be for very long! He confirms this view in his book, when he discusses "The poverty of agnosticism", proposing a "spectrum of probabilities about the existence of God", featuring 7 classes of belief, class 1 being the churchgoing believer and class 7 the full atheist (!) and placing himself in class 6 as "very low probability but short of zero, "de facto" atheist". As weird as it may sound, can there be a "de facto" atheist, os is he just a "very weak believer"??? His claim the be "attacking God, all gods, and everything supernatural wherever and whenever it may or may be invented" sounds totally untrue, deceitful! So, when he shows himself "fighting against all sorts of belief" he is actually keeping (exactly like Pascal) the door "just slightly open" for something "else", turning his "crusade" into a pantomime! I wonder how nobody else, as far as I know, noticed this flagrant contradiction, as I never saw it mentioned in any of the books reviews. By the way, his claim to be fighting for the "liberation of humanity from all sorts of belief" seems extremely stupid to me, as the ambiguity of our human condition clearly requires "cruthes" and "cranes" and some sort of "hope" for the overwhelming majority of people, and it does help them to withstand their difficulties and suffering. Where are those many believers supposed to go? Oh yes, it is very important to keep religions out of government and education, but it is useless to do it in his rather intolerant absolutist way. Real atheists will always be a minority of humanity, not to be opposed...but Richard Dawkins is certainly not one of us! [...]
 Age Old Polemics December 24, 2008
1 out of 14 found this review helpful
Arguments abound concerning the quality of the prose present within this work and even the legitimacy of the argumentation. However, it needs to be said that Dawkins has NOT put the nail in the coffin of faith, so to speak. This work is a sensational piece (sensational - read: illegitimately inciting antagonism) which does not honestly focus on facts and proofs.
For a fair assessment of this work read Alister McGrath's "The Dawkins Delusion" as well as any of John Polkinghorne's works. McGrath is a fellow Oxford professor as well as acquaintance of Dawkins and gives a fair assessment of his work and finds it wanting.
Dawkins fails in his desire to convert the faithful because very few are taken in by his reasoning. The simple fact is: Science has not disproved God.
 Questionable December 23, 2008
0 out of 14 found this review helpful
I must admit and issue a word of warning first - I have not read this book. But I find it very questionable for a self-claimed scientist like Dawkins (whose most famous book I have read - The Selfish Gene - along with a dozen or so more detailed books on evolutionary biology) to ascertain with any certainty that God does not exist. Clearly, Dawkins just wants to draw attention. And that he does. Dawkins is much more a popular author than he is a scientist. No scientist can with any degree of certainty make such a claim as science by its very nature admits that we do not know everything - that one additional piece of information can render every law we currently hold as absolutely true only partially true or completely obsolete.
I am agnostic. Perhaps it is only clear to people of my belief that Dawkins panders to a niche who want to believe that God absolutely does not exist. Dawkins' ideas will hold their place, but in my opinion, this debate is far from over. No matter what amount of evidence is in favor of evolution, calling God a delusion is sensationalist - not scientific - and kills much of his scientific credibility. Dawkins jumps the gun. There is much lacking in support of the theory of evolution. After all these years, scientists still have not discovered one single mechanism for gene creation, only gene mutation. As for me, I will continue to read books by authors who do not claim to know everything.
 An important work December 22, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
First off, I've been an agnostic for a long time, and generally find most religious belief to be somewhat silly. However, I acknowledge that some religious works contain useful perspectives and ideas, e.g., the Bhagavad Gita. The God Delusion does a wonderful job of explaining why religious belief is harmful, unnecessary, and, somewhat silly. I recommend this book to anyone who wants break free of the ridiculous notions that have been foisted upon them by parents and society at large.
awesome book if you're an atheist December 22, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
if you are a faithful/religious person, you're gonna hate the book. it won't convert you and there is little you can offer to argue with it that hasn't already been said. just don't bother with it. you believe what you believe and nothing will probably ever change that, just as no atheist will ever become a believer.
if you're an atheist like me, tired of being a minority that can't voice an opinion without someone rolling their eyes at you, it feels great to read something like this. he reinforced many of the ideas i already have and gave me some new ways to look at the subject. what i liked most is finally somebody clarified that you can still be an atheist and think that the world and existence was triggered by 'something'...i get so sick of religious people trying to argue that i actually believe in God because i don't think it all came from 'nothing' and that everything means nothing...that's nihilist, not atheist. there's alot more to the definition of God than 'anything that explains our existence.' dawkins defends einstein and others who acknowledge some greater force but one that does not carry all of the nonsense in the current definition of 'God.'...he also lists out the different levels of atheism in detail, points out the contradiction in thinking morals actually come from scripture, comes up with alternatives to the ten commandments...this book has it all.
anyways, i won't babble to much. just know it is well-written, well-argued, and well-thought-out. if you're an atheist or agnostic, it's a must-read. everyone else, just leave it alone and let us have a book for us. you have your books.
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