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The God Delusion

2012-04-20T03:54:36Z

AtheistEditor:

'''''The God Delusion''''' is a book by the [[atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]], in which he argues that belief in [[God]] is ir[[rational]].

Dawkins' main objectives are to convince his readers that the existence of [[God]] or any other [[deity]] is highly unlikely, that the Bible is incoherent, that [[morality]] does not come from [[religion]], and that if religion does effect morality, it only does so negatively.

Bigoted critics have called the book "surprisingly intolerant".<ref>{{cite book | quote=For a scientist who criticizes religion for its intolerance, Dawkins has written a surprisingly intolerant book, full of scorn for religion and those who believe. | publisher=Publishers Weekly | title=The God Delusion | year=2006 | month=August | url=http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004 | }}</ref>

* Richard Dawkins (2006) makes great play in his recent book ''The God Delusion'' of what he calls the appalling propensity of religious people to base their ideas on [[dogma]] rather than on the [[evidence]]. Well, many do, but this reads strange in a book bursting at the seams with its own dogmas, its uncritical acceptance of [[metaphysical]] theories such as [[Identity Theory]], its refusal to take note of the relevant evidence from [[parapsychology]], and its [[special pleading]] with regard to the views of [[Darwin]] and [[Wallace]] on [[genocide]] (see Smythies, 2007, for details). For example, Dawkins states that he knows that this life is the only life we have. How could he possibly know that? [http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_22_1_smythies.pdf]

Of course, he knows this in the same way that you, dear reader, know that there isn't an invisible unicorn in the corner of your room.

Dawkins also intends to teach that atheists can live happy, intelligent, lives—perhaps even happier lives than religious people. He asserts that atheists do not do evil things in the name of [[atheism]], while [[religion|religious]] people have been known to commit atrocities in the name of their religion. Several good examples include the Crusades, the Inquisition, and several atrocities written in the Bible, such as Jericho.

==Criticism==
''The God Delusion'' has been subject to a great deal of criticisms from the religious and stupid alike.

===Andrew Brown: Prospect Magazine===
{{Cquote|
"It has been obvious for years that Richard Dawkins had a fat book on religion in him, but who would have thought him capable of writing one this bad? Incurious, dogmatic, rambling and self-contradictory, it has none of the style or verve of his earlier works."<ref>http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7803</ref>
}}
Andrew Brown of Prospect Magazine was unimpressed by Dawkins' book. Brown calls atheism "unnatural" and points out that many atheists were violent in their belief (or lack thereof), citing Stalin killing members of the clergy.

Brown also attacks Dawkins' argument that suicide bombers are caused by religious schools. While Dawkins states that if these children were not taught what he calls "faith without question", suicide bombings would not be an issue. Brown, however, says that religion is not a necessity in suicide bombings. He points out that it is a tactic used by Marxists in Sri Lanka.

===Marilynne Robinson: Harper's Magazine===
<blockquote>
"There is a pervasive exclusion of historical memory in Dawkins's view of science. Consider this sentence from his preface, which occurs in the context of his vision of a religion-free world: 'Imagine . . . no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers.'"<ref>http://solutions.synearth.net/2006/10/20</ref>
</blockquote>

Robinson's major complaints about ''The God Delusion'' lie in how sheerly false the book is in many aspects. Although Dawkins claims that "the majority of us believe in free speech", she points out that most countries do not, pointing out that [[China]] (population 1.3 billion<ref>http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm</ref>) does not. In her review, Robinson basically says that Dawkins purposefully ignored important parts of history in his attempt to convince his readers. "It's a shame," she says, "to see him reduced to one long argument from professorial incredulity."

In this case, Dawkins was referring to the most likely readers of the book, which would not have been Chinese, or in other countries that deny free speech. The magic of quote mining is ever-present.

===Terry Eagleton: London Review of Books===
<blockquote>
"Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins [...] are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."
</blockquote>

===Alister McGrath: The Dawkins Delusion?===
''The Dawkins Delusion?'' is a response to Dawkins' ''The God Delusion'' by [[Alister McGrath]].

== Quotes from ''The God Delusion'' ==
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
::-Chapter 2

"I am one of an increasing number of biologists who see religion as a ''by-product'' of something else."
::-Chapter 5

"By contrast, what I, as a scientist, believe (for example, [[evolution]]) I believe not because of reading a holy book but because I have studied the evidence... Books about evolution are believed because they present overwhelming quantities of mutually buttressed evidence."
::-Chapter 8

"... [Moral absolutism] rules the minds of a great number of people in the world today, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in the incipient American theocracy... Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religious faith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religion can be a force for evil in the world."
::-Chapter 8
==See also==
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Atheism and the suppression of science]]
{{Nb Atheism}}

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
*[http://www.richarddawkins.net RichardDawkins.net]

[[Category:Richard Dawkins|Books|God Delusion, The]]

The God Delusion

2012-04-20T03:53:33Z

AtheistEditor:

'''''The God Delusion''''' is a book by the [[atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]], in which he argues that belief in [[God]] is ir[[rational]].

Dawkins' main objectives are to convince his readers that the existence of [[God]] or any other [[deity]] is highly unlikely, that the Bible is incoherent, that [[morality]] does not come from [[religion]], and that if religion does effect morality, it only does so negatively.

Bigoted critics have called the book "surprisingly intolerant".<ref>{{cite book | quote=For a scientist who criticizes religion for its intolerance, Dawkins has written a surprisingly intolerant book, full of scorn for religion and those who believe. | publisher=Publishers Weekly | title=The God Delusion | year=2006 | month=August | url=http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004 | }}</ref>

* Richard Dawkins (2006) makes great play in his recent book ''The God Delusion'' of what he calls the appalling propensity of religious people to base their ideas on [[dogma]] rather than on the [[evidence]]. Well, many do, but this reads strange in a book bursting at the seams with its own dogmas, its uncritical acceptance of [[metaphysical]] theories such as [[Identity Theory]], its refusal to take note of the relevant evidence from [[parapsychology]], and its [[special pleading]] with regard to the views of [[Darwin]] and [[Wallace]] on [[genocide]] (see Smythies, 2007, for details). For example, Dawkins states that he knows that this life is the only life we have. How could he possibly know that? [http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_22_1_smythies.pdf]

Of course, he knows this in the same way that you, dear reader, know that there isn't an invisible unicorn in the corner of your room.

Dawkins also intends to teach that atheists can live happy, intelligent, lives—perhaps even happier lives than religious people. He asserts that atheists do not do evil things in the name of [[atheism]], while [[religion|religious]] people have been known to commit atrocities in the name of their religion. Several good examples include the Crusades, the Inquisition, and several atrocities written in the Bible, such as Jericho.

==Criticism==
''The God Delusion'' has been subject to a great deal of criticisms from the religious and the non-religious alike.

===Andrew Brown: Prospect Magazine===
{{Cquote|
"It has been obvious for years that Richard Dawkins had a fat book on religion in him, but who would have thought him capable of writing one this bad? Incurious, dogmatic, rambling and self-contradictory, it has none of the style or verve of his earlier works."<ref>http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7803</ref>
}}
Andrew Brown of Prospect Magazine was unimpressed by Dawkins' book. Brown calls atheism "unnatural" and points out that many atheists were violent in their belief (or lack thereof), citing Stalin killing members of the clergy.

Brown also attacks Dawkins' argument that suicide bombers are caused by religious schools. While Dawkins states that if these children were not taught what he calls "faith without question", suicide bombings would not be an issue. Brown, however, says that religion is not a necessity in suicide bombings. He points out that it is a tactic used by Marxists in Sri Lanka.

===Marilynne Robinson: Harper's Magazine===
<blockquote>
"There is a pervasive exclusion of historical memory in Dawkins's view of science. Consider this sentence from his preface, which occurs in the context of his vision of a religion-free world: 'Imagine . . . no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers.'"<ref>http://solutions.synearth.net/2006/10/20</ref>
</blockquote>

Robinson's major complaints about ''The God Delusion'' lie in how sheerly false the book is in many aspects. Although Dawkins claims that "the majority of us believe in free speech", she points out that most countries do not, pointing out that [[China]] (population 1.3 billion<ref>http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm</ref>) does not. In her review, Robinson basically says that Dawkins purposefully ignored important parts of history in his attempt to convince his readers. "It's a shame," she says, "to see him reduced to one long argument from professorial incredulity."

In this case, Dawkins was referring to the most likely readers of the book, which would not have been Chinese, or in other countries that deny free speech. The magic of quote mining is ever-present.

===Terry Eagleton: London Review of Books===
<blockquote>
"Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins [...] are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."
</blockquote>

===Alister McGrath: The Dawkins Delusion?===
''The Dawkins Delusion?'' is a response to Dawkins' ''The God Delusion'' by [[Alister McGrath]].

== Quotes from ''The God Delusion'' ==
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
::-Chapter 2

"I am one of an increasing number of biologists who see religion as a ''by-product'' of something else."
::-Chapter 5

"By contrast, what I, as a scientist, believe (for example, [[evolution]]) I believe not because of reading a holy book but because I have studied the evidence... Books about evolution are believed because they present overwhelming quantities of mutually buttressed evidence."
::-Chapter 8

"... [Moral absolutism] rules the minds of a great number of people in the world today, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in the incipient American theocracy... Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religious faith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religion can be a force for evil in the world."
::-Chapter 8
==See also==
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Atheism and the suppression of science]]
{{Nb Atheism}}

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
*[http://www.richarddawkins.net RichardDawkins.net]

[[Category:Richard Dawkins|Books|God Delusion, The]]

The God Delusion

2012-04-20T03:52:40Z

AtheistEditor:

'''''The God Delusion''''' is a book by the [[atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]], in which he argues that belief in [[God]] is ir[[rational]].

Dawkins' main objectives are to convince his readers that the existence of [[God]] or any other [[deity]] is highly unlikely, that the Bible is incoherent, that [[morality]] does not come from [[religion]], and that if religion does effect morality, it only does so negatively.

Critics have called the book "surprisingly intolerant".<ref>{{cite book | quote=For a scientist who criticizes religion for its intolerance, Dawkins has written a surprisingly intolerant book, full of scorn for religion and those who believe. | publisher=Publishers Weekly | title=The God Delusion | year=2006 | month=August | url=http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004 | }}</ref>

* Richard Dawkins (2006) makes great play in his recent book ''The God Delusion'' of what he calls the appalling propensity of religious people to base their ideas on [[dogma]] rather than on the [[evidence]]. Well, many do, but this reads strange in a book bursting at the seams with its own dogmas, its uncritical acceptance of [[metaphysical]] theories such as [[Identity Theory]], its refusal to take note of the relevant evidence from [[parapsychology]], and its [[special pleading]] with regard to the views of [[Darwin]] and [[Wallace]] on [[genocide]] (see Smythies, 2007, for details). For example, Dawkins states that he knows that this life is the only life we have. How could he possibly know that? [http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_22_1_smythies.pdf]

Of course, he knows this in the same way that you, dear reader, know that there isn't an invisible unicorn in the corner of your room.

Dawkins also intends to teach that atheists can live happy, intelligent, lives—perhaps even happier lives than religious people. He asserts that atheists do not do evil things in the name of [[atheism]], while [[religion|religious]] people have been known to commit atrocities in the name of their religion. Several good examples include the Crusades, the Inquisition, and several atrocities written in the Bible, such as Jericho.

==Criticism==
''The God Delusion'' has been subject to a great deal of criticisms from the religious and the non-religious alike.

===Andrew Brown: Prospect Magazine===
{{Cquote|
"It has been obvious for years that Richard Dawkins had a fat book on religion in him, but who would have thought him capable of writing one this bad? Incurious, dogmatic, rambling and self-contradictory, it has none of the style or verve of his earlier works."<ref>http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7803</ref>
}}
Andrew Brown of Prospect Magazine was unimpressed by Dawkins' book. Brown calls atheism "unnatural" and points out that many atheists were violent in their belief (or lack thereof), citing Stalin killing members of the clergy.

Brown also attacks Dawkins' argument that suicide bombers are caused by religious schools. While Dawkins states that if these children were not taught what he calls "faith without question", suicide bombings would not be an issue. Brown, however, says that religion is not a necessity in suicide bombings. He points out that it is a tactic used by Marxists in Sri Lanka.

===Marilynne Robinson: Harper's Magazine===
<blockquote>
"There is a pervasive exclusion of historical memory in Dawkins's view of science. Consider this sentence from his preface, which occurs in the context of his vision of a religion-free world: 'Imagine . . . no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers.'"<ref>http://solutions.synearth.net/2006/10/20</ref>
</blockquote>

Robinson's major complaints about ''The God Delusion'' lie in how sheerly false the book is in many aspects. Although Dawkins claims that "the majority of us believe in free speech", she points out that most countries do not, pointing out that [[China]] (population 1.3 billion<ref>http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm</ref>) does not. In her review, Robinson basically says that Dawkins purposefully ignored important parts of history in his attempt to convince his readers. "It's a shame," she says, "to see him reduced to one long argument from professorial incredulity."

In this case, Dawkins was referring to the most likely readers of the book, which would not have been Chinese, or in other countries that deny free speech. The magic of quote mining is ever-present.

===Terry Eagleton: London Review of Books===
<blockquote>
"Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins [...] are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."
</blockquote>

===Alister McGrath: The Dawkins Delusion?===
''The Dawkins Delusion?'' is a response to Dawkins' ''The God Delusion'' by [[Alister McGrath]].

== Quotes from ''The God Delusion'' ==
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
::-Chapter 2

"I am one of an increasing number of biologists who see religion as a ''by-product'' of something else."
::-Chapter 5

"By contrast, what I, as a scientist, believe (for example, [[evolution]]) I believe not because of reading a holy book but because I have studied the evidence... Books about evolution are believed because they present overwhelming quantities of mutually buttressed evidence."
::-Chapter 8

"... [Moral absolutism] rules the minds of a great number of people in the world today, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in the incipient American theocracy... Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religious faith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religion can be a force for evil in the world."
::-Chapter 8
==See also==
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Atheism and the suppression of science]]
{{Nb Atheism}}

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
*[http://www.richarddawkins.net RichardDawkins.net]

[[Category:Richard Dawkins|Books|God Delusion, The]]

Flying Spaghetti Monster

2012-04-20T03:47:22Z

AtheistEditor:

The '''Flying Spaghetti Monster''' is the deity of "'''Pastafarianism'''", a [[parody]] [[religion]] that began as a critique of the Kansas Board of Education's decision to allow the teaching of [[intelligent design]] in public schools. Arguing that intelligent design was a thinly-veiled attempt to bring [[religion]] into the classroom, Bobby Henderson constructed "Pastafarianism" as a new theological system and argued that, if schools wished to "teach the controversy," they should teach "Pastafarianism" alongside evolution and intelligent design<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/27/AR2005082700019.html?nav=most_emailed Verbatim: Noodle This, Kansas - Washington Post]</ref>. Needless to say, he was entirely correct about this.

Since then, many [[atheist]]s and [[secularist]]s have claimed to be "Pastafarians", implicitly using it to criticize actual religions, especially [[Christianity]]. More prominent atheists have also mentioned it, such as [[Richard Dawkins]] in his book ''[[The God Delusion]]'' ''(sic)''. This was extremely clever of them, and no religious person has refuted it well.

==Teachings==
"Pastafarians" worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a flying pile of spaghetti and meatballs, by eating spaghetti and dressing in pirate regalia. "Pastafarianism" also holds pirates in high esteem, claiming that they were good men whose deeds were perverted by the media. They attribute [[global warming]] to the decrease of pirates, presenting graphs showing that global temperatures have risen over the past centuries in rough inverse correlation to the number of pirates.

According to the letter by Bobby Henderson to the Kansas Board of Education, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has the following powers:
*Flight
*Invisibility
*Can travel through solid matter
*Can create and alter anything
*Plants evidence and changes test results to confuse [[evolutionists]].

== References ==
<div class="references-small">
<references />

[[category:culture]]