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The God Delusion

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[[File:Richard Dawkins Cooper Union.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Richard Dawkins]] ]]'''''The God Delusion''''' is a book by prominent the [[atheistagnosticism|agnostic]] [[Richard Dawkins]]. Dawkins' website describes it:<blockquote>"A preeminent scientist – and the world's most prominent atheist – asserts the irrationality of , in which he argues that belief in [[God ]] is ir[[rational]] (see also: [[Richard Dawkins and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11agnosticism]])."</blockquote>
In terms of the [[theism]] vs. [[agnosticism]]/[[atheism]] issue, Dawkins has shown himself to be rather ignorant in matters of [[philosophy]] and [[theology]]. For example, atheist philosopher Dr. [[Michael Ruse]] declared concerning Dawkins' book ''The God Delusion'': "''The God Delusion'' makes me embarrassed to be an atheist."<ref>http://www.alternet.org/media/47052?page==Intentions==entire</ref> See also: [[Errors of Richard Dawkins]] Although [[Richard Dawkins]] declared himself an [[agnosticism|agnostic]] in the book ''The God Delusion'', he declared that atheist evangelism is important.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2012/02/mailvox-richard-dawkins-is-not-atheist.html Mailvox: Richard Dawkins is not an atheist!]</ref> Theodore Beale wrote concerning this matter, "While the fact that Dawkins declared himself a literal agnostic in the very book in which he declared the importance of atheist evangelism is both ironic and incoherent, it will surprise no one who has read the chapter of ''The Irrational Atheist'' entitled "Darwin's Judas".<ref>[https://voxday.net/2012/02/24/mailvox-richard-dawkins-is-not-atheis/ Mailvox: Richard Dawkins is not an atheist!]</ref>  In 2010, it was reported that ''The God Delusion'' sold 2,086,402 copies and 907,161 of those copies were sold in [[North America]]. Contrastly, in 2010, the [[Evangelical Christians|evangelical Christian]] [[Rick Warren]] sold between 25,000,000 and 50,000,000 copies of his book ''The Purpose Driven Life''.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2010/02/03/how-many-copies-of-the-god-delusion-have-been-sold/ How Many Copies of The God Delusion Have Been Sold?]</ref> According to the website Guinness World Records, a few intentionssurvey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2. It intends 5 billion copies [of the Bible] were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion."<ref>[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction/ Best-selling book of non-fiction], Guinness World Records</ref> ''The Economist'' reported in 2007, "...over 100m copies of the Bible are sold or given away every year. Annual Bible sales in America are worth between $425m and $650m; Gideon's International gives away a Bible every second. The Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world's population."<ref>[https://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317&CFID=3289446&CFTOKEN=a87381115ea0752-5130AD65-B27C-BB00-012B3B9A581DD567 The battle of the books], The Economist</ref> Dawkins' main objectives are to teach its convince his readers that the existence of [[God]]or any other [[deity]] is highly unlikely, our lord and saviorthat the Bible is incoherent, that [[morality]] does not existcome from [[religion]], and that if religion does effect morality, it only does so negatively. It  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=https://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] Dawkins also intends to teach that atheists, as a whole and individually, can be live happy, intelligent , lives&mdash;perhaps even happier lives than religious people. It He asserts that atheists do not do evil things in the name of [[atheism]], supposedly unlike while [[religion|religious ]] peoplehave been known to commit atrocities in the name of their religion.
==Criticism==
===Andrew Brown: Prospect Magazine===
<blockquote>{{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>
</blockquote>}}
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 LankavLanka.
===Marilynne Robinson: Harper's Magazine===
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."
 
===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]].
 
== Richard Dawkins and Center for Inquiry translation project to reach more Muslims ==
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism vs. Islam]] and [[Center for Inquiry]]
[[File:Richard Dawkins Cooper Union.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Richard Dawkins]] ]]
''The Guardian'' reported about Richard Dawkins' book ''The God Delusion'':
{{Cquote|Richard Dawkins is responding to what he called the “stirring towards atheism” in some Islamic countries with a programme to make free downloads of his books available in [[Arabic]], [[Urdu]], [[Farsi]] and [[Indonesia]]n.
 
The scientist and atheist said he was “greatly encouraged” to learn that the unofficial Arabic pdf of the book had been downloaded 13m times. Dawkins writes in ''The God Delusion'' about his wish that the “open-minded people” who read it will “break free of the vice of religion altogether”. It has sold 3.3m copies worldwide since it was published in 2006 – far fewer than the number of Arabic copies that Dawkins believes to have been downloaded illegally.
 
The [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science]] recently merged with the Washington DC-based [[Center for Inquiry]]. Dawkins said the CFI decided on “a more systematic programme” of translating his work in ebook form following “stirrings toward atheism in [[Iran]] and other Islamic countries”. It will be the first time his work has been made available in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi and other languages of Islamic countries.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/20/richard-dawkins-to-give-away-copies-of-the-god-delusion-in-islamic-countries Richard Dawkins to give away copies of The God Delusion in Islamic countries], The Guardian</ref>}}
 
The Center for Inquiry indicates on its website:
{{Cquote|Announcing The Translations Project, a program of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, part of the Center for Inquiry.
 
The books of Richard Dawkins—including ''River Out of Eden'', ''The Magic of Reality'', ''The Blind Watchmaker'', and ''The God Delusion''—are being professionally translated into languages such as Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Indonesian and made available to download free of charge.<ref>[https://centerforinquiry.org/news/introducing-the-translations-project/ The Books of Richard Dawkins, Professionally Translated for Free Access in the Muslim World], Center for Inquiry website</ref>}}
 
== 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==
 
*[[The Greatest Show on Earth]]
*[[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]]
[[Category:Liberal Books]]