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Nov 30, 2007

Chris rated it:

The first time I tried to read this book, I gave it up within about three pages, convinced that it was far too narrowly focused and inadequately researched to be a worthwhile criticism of religion. I had also recently seen the author give an interview in which he showed himself to be an unbearable, egocentric jerk, and the book rather quickly solidified that impression. Recently, in conversation with someone who loved the book, I agreed to go back and read the thing, all of it, just out of fairn More...

189 comments like (169 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2007

Anica rated it:

Well, this settles it once and for all. There is no God. Which turns out to be a good thing, considering the God most Americans believe in is a crazy, vengeful, ego-maniacal monster. Dawkins’ insights are so cunning and profound you can’t help feeling embarrassed for the believer.

Some of the main arguments:
Believer #1: The diversity of life is too complex to be random, so it must have been designed by someone even more complex.
Dawkins: If the designer is so complex, t More...

23 comments like (127 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2010

Alex rated it:

THE GOD DELUSION BY RICHARD DAWKINS: Dawkins latest book is as brutal and honest as its title. For those who aren’t looking to have their faith and beliefs gravely challenged, you may want to skip this book. Though Dawkins is looking for everyone to read this book with an open mind, whether you’re devoutly religious, agnostic or atheist. Having an open mind is actually one of the New Ten Commandments Dawkins cites.

The book begins in a calm and orderly manner, with an opening chap More...

4 comments like (47 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2007

Aeisele rated it:

This is perhaps the worst polemic against religion I have ever read. Really, if Dawkins actually knew anything about religion, he wouldn't have written the book. Instead, he knows nothing about the subject, and so if you know nothing about something, you don't even KNOW when you say stupid things.
For instance, Dawkins brings up John Hartung's article about "love thy neighbor"(Hartung is not, in case you were wondering, a biblical scholar. He's a Professor of Anesthesiology). Th More...

24 comments like (65 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Xysea rated it:

I am not an atheist, but neither am I a 'true believer'. I border more on 'agnostic', that is to say I believe there is some force beyond this Earth and that I don't know what it is, but I don't subscribe to any particular set of beliefs, per se.

Until I come across books like this one. Then, I get an irrational urge to defend spiritual beliefs (but not religion, and that's another discussion).

What I mean is, I am generally docile and private about my spirituality and my More...

50 comments like (46 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Nick rated it:

Ok, we get it. Religion is bad. Christianity is evil, Islam is maniacal, and all other religious zealots are out of their mind. I guess Dawkins is right...public hospitals, orphanages (both Christian inventions in the West), as well as communal values all have destroyed Occidental culture. I wish we still practiced 'exposing' infants (i.e. literally throwing out unwanted babies, as made popular by the ancients). Although there seems to be correlation between violence, homocide, and arrogance wit More...

19 comments like (29 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Paul added it

TWO RANTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Now, here's the thing about this author :

With friends like Richard Dawkins, who needs enemies?

Okay, i said it. Whew, I feel better. He's just so annoying, even when you agree with him. Grr.

Okay, well, so, some time ago I watched Richard's two documentaries "The Enemies of Reason" and "The Root of all Evil" so I should get round to this book at some point, but really, it's so hard to make any More...

70 comments like (28 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Richard rated it:

I'm going to get the criticism out of the way before I move on to why I *love* this book.

Richard Dawkins is not an easy read. He never pulls a punch, and if any of the beliefs he is attacking in his book are yours then this is going to get your back up. Not for nothing was he passed over as a witness in the intelligent design trials in America. His appearance on the witness stand would probably have worked for the ID advocates as he pointed at every 'believer' in the room and bera More...

1 comment like (39 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

Carlo rated it:

Regardless of your religious beliefs, I urge you to read this book, if not for anything, only because it helps thinking critically in matters of religion, where many peoples are gullible to deception. Dawkins’ choice of the title – though I may not support it – shows how passionate he is for people. It is sad that most people don’t know much about their religions today, and although some may call that faith, I can’t help but call it ignorance. Many devout Christians, whom I personally know, hav More...

9 comments like (16 people liked it)

May 30, 2008

Julian rated it:

Reading The God Delusion took a while, but not because it’s long or somehow difficult. It is a jaunty text, in fact, and I found myself often stopping to ponder and/or revel in Richard Dawkins’ happy heathen insights. Also, I do much of my reading on the bus, and you never know when some surly Christian’s going to appear in the seat next to you.

Dawkins’ arguments for not believing in God or the “perfection” of the Bible (or the Koran or whatever basic religious text you please) a More...

14 comments like (24 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2009

Manny rated it:

I thought the very best point this book made came right at the beginning. Dawkins reports on surveys carried out in the US, where subjects received a description of an otherwise sympathetic political candidate, and were asked whether they would still vote for them if one extra feature were added. Would it still be OK if they were a woman? 90% or so say yes. Black? Yes. (Well, we have hard evidence on that now!) Gay? Most people still say yes. Atheist? Half the population says no! Considering tha More...

55 comments like (31 people liked it)

May 03, 2007

Susan rated it:

I just finished the book this weekend.
Although I don't like his derisive approach, and feel that he should have put the last chapters first (and done away with some of the opening pages), I have to say that I agree with his basic points. Where does this put me? In an interesting place to tell you the truth.

At the same time, I have to admit, following through with atheistic thought is much more comforting than I would have imagined. It gives responsibility back to me in a More...

4 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2011

Keely rated it:

The senior Bush once said, during his presidency, that atheists should not be considered citizens of the United States. He expressed that he thought it was not only allowable but desirable to exclude people from the rights and protections of their country, not because they posed a danger or had committed any crime, but because of how they saw the world.

Athiests have been ranked as one of the least trusted groups, and the oft-repeated notion that atheism is the same as amorality is al More...

8 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

notgettingenough added it

I don't particularly understand why scientists like Dawkins lost their civility and with it, for me, their credibility, but I am relieved to see that it is possible for a non-abusive discussion on these matters to take place:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmic...

http://www.uncommondescent.com/religion/...

In contrast we have one of those hilarious Guardian headlines:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/s...

'Stephen Hawking says unive More...

17 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Christian rated it:

One of the best non-fiction book I've ever read. Actually, one of the best book I've ever read period. Dawkins is well-researched and has a good prose. He has a thorough analysis that is to the point, and although he is on a few occasions slightly speculative, he sets his argumentative boundaries very well and explains what he argues and what he supposes or tentatively explores for the sake of expanding the discussion to get a broader picture.

The point of the book is spelled out pre More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Darrell rated it:

Dawkins starts out by citing a recent statistic that shows atheists are the most discriminated against group today. Declaring yourself an atheist in America is political suicide. George Bush the elder once said atheists shouldn't even be considered citizens. People have lost their jobs, lost their spouses, and one man even lost his life simply for being an atheist. Afraid of losing their friends and having family members turn against them, there are many atheists who are afraid to "come out More...

7 comments like (19 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Natalie rated it:

I'm a part of the atheist choir to which Dawkins is preaching; but I honestly believe that this book might change a religious person's mind, if they bothered to pick it up (I've been hearing a lot about how many religious congregations are condemning Dawkins's work as a tool of Satan). It's full of scientific goodness, and refutations of common defenses of religion and attacks upon atheism. Suddenly, I don't feel so alone.

It's well known how many horrors are perpetrated in the na More...

13 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2008

Natali rated it:

I am so thankful for this book. When reading Dawkins' deconstruction of religion, I felt as though he was articulating thoughts I had thought in some form or fashion throughout my entire oppressively religious upbringing. I had notions of these things but never was able to present them to myself quite as logically.

The God Delusion addresses just about every religious argument I've ever heard in a convincing and organized manner. Each chapter builds on the same argument fluidly and c More...

2 comments like (14 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2008

James rated it:

This book was a dramatic disappointment that did not live up to the "finally someone has proven religion is poppycock" hype it received. Dawkins fails utterly to tear down any meaningful experience of religion, instead he merely reinforces the petty grudges that some atheists have against religion, grudges that betray one's own lack of spiritual maturity and suggest a deeper ailment at work.

It's a shame. I saved up my energy to read the radical atheism espoused in Richard More...

9 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2007

Trevor rated it:

I've had a love / hate relationship with Dawkins over the years. I didn't really like his The Selfish Gene, mostly because I think it tries to explain things on the wrong scale. I quite like his meme metaphor, but think people like Dennett take it too far by forgetting it is a metaphor. The Blind Watchmaker has that long (and dull) bit at the end about computer program insects that is just too painful to read. And then there is the ongoing fight between him and Stephen J Gould. I always lov More...

50 comments like (17 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2008

Nathan rated it:

I wish I could give the same high praise for Dawkins' "The God Delusion" that I gave "The Selfish Gene". The only fault I found with Selfish Gene was that he jumped to the conclusion that because natural selection is true....there is no God. He failed to go into detail as to why he thought so in that book and strives (rather poorly) to do so in "The God Delusion".
If you're like me, you would read this expecting something like "A=B and B=C, therefore A More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2008

Julia rated it:

Witty and well-written, Dawkins is obviously well-read and an intelligent force in the atheist movement.

Even so, his book did not sway me towards the atheist worldview, at all. Which surprised me. I expected at least a bit of a philosophical struggle to work through. Instead I found cherry-picked examples of the horrors produced by "religion", plenty of witty insults lacking real substance, a few astonishing and unsupported claims ("[Religion] teaches us that it is More...

2 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

-uht! rated it:

Okay, so it starts off very dismissive, pedantic, and dickish, but in the last half, this book totally grew on me. There is some really decent information in here that could've only been written by Dawkins. I really had to get through about 150 or 200 pages to anything that spoke to me, but I really dug the section "Why There Almost Certainly Is No God" and especially loved the section on religious memes, comparing them to the selfish gene. Also very fascinating was the section on " More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2012

Natalie rated it:

I found the book disappointing.

Its not controversial, its a polemizing blow to the author's own trumpet. Richard Dawkins is a sophisticated man. Who likes to show it. Through every line of the book.

I also agree with Chris Curtis's review. Chapter 8 is as brilliant as the NY-Times reviewers think the whole book is.

The idea of Religions being the only thing able to turn a good man into doing evil things, is not new. Richard Dawkins just put his new words on an old More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2008

Jasper rated it:

As an agnostic I can wholeheartedly promise you that this book is so tedious it will reduce you to tears. He debunks God as a concept and in the process completely misses the point of God. He then just carries on repeating himself through chapter after chapter after boring chapter. If there really was a god, he wouldn't allow people like this idiot to write mind numbing drivel and then market it with tacky gimmicks like the "Come all ye faithless" Christmas Card I got with mine....I sh More...

4 comments like (19 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2011

Erik rated it:

When others throw such words as "god" or "spiritual" or "soul" into their conversation I must ask them what they're talking about unless the context is clear. Unchurched, when I was a kid I thought they all meant something, something obscure to me, but still significant. Feeling ignorant and ashamed of this, I generally would let such remarks pass, but they haunted me.

The study of Latin in high school was a start in unpacking such nebulous words via et More...

6 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2011

Jarrod rated it:

This book knocked me on my ass. I originally read it planning to strengthen my faith. I reasoned that if I could understand the best arguments against God and still retain faith, then mine would be that much stronger. Moreover, if we truly believe what we claim we do, then we shouldn't be unwilling or afraid to explore those beliefs.

The question of whether or not there is a God is the biggest one of our lives. The answer changes everything. Dawkins says that God does not exist because More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2008

Aisha rated it:

I have decided to fully give up on this book. It makes me feel bad. I feel I should finish it, with my interest in religion. I should know what the atheists believe are the reasons for no God, should know what their arguments are against the existence of God. But this book is just so awful I cannot take it any more.

According to the author, in the beginning he boats that, if you are a religious person, by the end of the book, you will become an atheist. Not only did this not work on More...

21 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2008

Pamela rated it:

Richard Dawkins may provide lifelong atheists like me some much-needed moral support in his wide-ranging, witty, and intelligent screed The God Delusion, but this book isn’t really for us. Deeply religious people might profit from reading it, but it isn’t really for them, either, and they’re probably the least likely ever to pick this book up. Dawkins is aiming at people who have their doubts about religion but see no easy way to reject it or to separate themselves from it.

He tackles More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2007

Alex rated it:

Of the many atheist manifestos to hit the shelves within the past few years—among them, The End of Faith, Breaking the Spell, and God is Not Great—none have been so deliciously rewarding as The God Delusion, by the world-renowned evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins.

It's to his credit that Dawkins has never been concerned with the tactics of the science vs. faith debate, with strategic savvy and political niceties, but simply with determining what is true. He believes that the " More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

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