I'm currently about halfway through Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. If it took me a while to get to it, it's because I suspected I would already be familiar with most of his arguments. And indeed I am. Yet it's nice to have all of them neatly summarized in one book.
The responses from Dawkins' critics (such as the laughably ineffective Dinesh D'Souza) posted online are truly amazing, even for the religious crowd. Almost none of them give any indication whatsoever that the critic actually read the book. The critics simply trot out the same old batch of arguments, apparently unaware that Dawkins has already addressed each and every one of them in exhausting detail. The negative reviews are written *by* people who have never read the book *for* people who have never read the book.
If you think Dawkins' answers are flawed, then fine. But at least acknowledge that Dawkins has addressed them in the book. Instead of responding to Dawkins' rebuttals to their arguments, theists merely repeat the exact same arguments. I'm not sure that I've come across a single intellectually honest review...at least not yet.
If theists were honest, they would simply say: "We're deeply uncomfortable with the book and its conclusions, therefore we hate it." Just skip any pretense of countering the arguments and cut to the chase, guys. It would be a refreshing change for once.
I love how people write him off because he's been educated in biology, not theology. Of course, these are the same people who deny evolution (a biological theory) based on theological arguments... but whatever.
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis was slightly off. Yes, NEGATIVE reviews are written by religious folk who never read the book, but they don't write them for people who will never read the book, but for people who never read.
"Theology"?
ReplyDeleteBWA HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA A HAHAHAHAHA
To even regard it as a subject is to be far too respectful.