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Anybody read this? I can't abide all this God malarkey myself, seems to cause more problems in this world than just about anything else. Richard Dawkins is likely to put across a more cogent argument than I, who just gets cross and starts shouting 'Can't you see it's all rubbish?' Wondered if anybody had read it. |
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
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boo 13,901 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 18 years ago -
‘A wonderful book - a passionate and vital advocacy which is
also joyous, elegant, fair, engaging, and often very funny, and which is
informed throughout by an exhilarating breadth of reference and clarity of
thought.’
Michael Frayn
I bet that is one depressing read! -
Richard Dawkins may have a valid point somewhere, and I'm sure his books are good, but from what I've seen of him on TV he comes across such an arrogant, stubborn cunt I have virtually no inclination to read them. -
I'm currently reading 'The End of Faith' by Sam Harris, which is in a similar vein, in fact it has a commendation by Dawkins on the back cover.
It's not bad, but I get the impression a non-atheist might get more from it. There's always a slight element of preaching to the converted with this kind of thing, as those most likely to read them probably subscribe to similar things in the first place.
Saw Dawkins on Heaven and Earth at the weekend actually, came across as a bit of a bitter nobber to be honest. Will read his book eventually. -
Rooney wrote:
having great knowledge and knowing what you're talking about can do that to a person.
I don't know of many other presenters who come across like that. -
Stickman 29,986 posts
Seen 5 months ago
Registered 17 years agoHe's too self-centred for my liking. It's always meme, meme, meme with him.
/coat
/taxi
/flight -
FairgroundTown 2,522 posts
Seen 8 years ago
Registered 16 years agoEconomist review. Only a tenner on Amazon too. Was going to wait for the paperback, but now tempted. -
Shrimp 1,081 posts
Seen 13 years ago
Registered 17 years agoGremmi wrote:
Richard Dawkins may have a valid point somewhere, and I'm sure his books are good, but from what I've seen of him on TV he comes across such an arrogant, stubborn cunt I have virtually no inclination to read them.
Sadly his recent TV appearances have overshadowed his books for some people. The Selfish Gene (1976 I think?) was pure genius... I don't think it's exaggerating to say that he's the Charles Darwin of the modern age.
I expect his bitter, stubborn attitude is due to him continually having to defend evolution and science in general against fundamentalist idiots. He must get lots of death threats too... -
FairgroundTown 2,522 posts
Seen 8 years ago
Registered 16 years agoStickman wrote:
He would argue that is because it is always meme, meme, meme!
He's too self-centred for my liking. It's always meme, meme, meme with him.
/coat
/taxi
/flight -
Universal_Hamster 4,948 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 17 years agoIm from a thoroughly mental far-right born-again christian family, but I shed my beliefs in god quite a while ago. (Easier said than done.) Watching Richard Dawkins root of all evil programs really helped me sort out alot of the mess that was in my head.
He does come across as agressively anti-religion, but hes sincere and he talks sense.
Btw, can anyone tell me how many episodes "Root of all evil" had? -
Stickman 29,986 posts
Seen 5 months ago
Registered 17 years agoJust two I think. -
Universal_Hamster 4,948 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 17 years agoGroovy, then I've seen em both! -
Ginger 7,256 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 19 years agoFairgroundTown wrote:
Just ordered the book this morning after the selfsame economist review
Economist review. Only a tenner on Amazon too. Was going to wait for the paperback, but now tempted..gif)
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Universal_Hamster 4,948 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 17 years agoHarry wrote:
In that case I wish my arguments were as well measured when I was a teeneager who didnt want to go to church.
Dawkins just seems another brand of fundie to me. He needs to get over himself, he sounds like another teenage kid annoyed his kids made him go to church. -
Pike 13,459 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 18 years agoDoubt I'll get it. I'm a big fan of Dawkins books on evolution, but I already agree with him on religion and I doubt this book will add anything significant to the converted.
He also is, IMO, at his worst when debating religion in general instead of merley debunking creationists. If his aim is to bring people over to his point of view he should tone down the agression a bit. -
warlockuk 19,519 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 17 years agoSounds interesting - might have to have a butchers at the book when it's on paperback. -
The_Aardvark 3,063 posts
Seen 9 years ago
Registered 16 years agoI'm going to see Dawkins speak in a couple of weeks, actually. It should be interested, at least.
I think he's a much better biologist than philosopher - the Selfish Gene is an astonishing book and The Blind Watchmaker is the definitive version of the case against creationism.
The Root of all Evil was a bit less solid, IMHO. He illustrated his "all religion is bad" case with a load of religious nutjobs which basically just proved "all nutjobs are bad".
Edited by The_Aardvark at 15:51:08 26-09-2006 -
Stickman 29,986 posts
Seen 5 months ago
Registered 17 years agoIt's always seemed to me that he is against a) creationists, b) fundamentalists, c) organised religion.
That's all good, I'm the same myself. I don't understand why he gets so uppity about the existence of God though. -
Universal_Hamster 4,948 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 17 years agoRooney wrote:
Yeah, thats were I saw them. Wasnt sure If there were more episodes out there!
Universal Hamster wrote:
Btw, can anyone tell me how many episodes "Root of all evil" had?
they're all on youtube....
While he may encounter many "nutjobs" as you say, they are nutjobs, (in the case of the pastor in episode 1) in very mainstream positions. This guy has the presidents ear, after all.
Plus he is more left leaning than the religion I was born into.
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warlockuk 19,519 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 17 years agoI've just realised I've seen Richard Dawkins on Jonathan Miller's "The Atheism Tapes". Quite interesting, I'll have to check out some of his older books - esp the blind watchmaker that The Aardvark mentioned. -
Whizzo 44,810 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 20 years agoStickman wrote:
That very awful punnage at least proves the non-existence of God.
He's too self-centred for my liking. It's always meme, meme, meme with him.
/coat
/taxi
/flight -
Rooney wrote:
I loved that...was it on BBC4?
it was too good.... arthur miller was on it too wasn't he?
Aye, he was. Same one as Richard Dawkins. I missed it the first time around and used my payment of the license fee as a justification to download it
The ones I have are:
Colin McGinn + Steven Weinberg
Arthur Miller + Richard Dawkins
Denys Turner + Daniel Dennett
Cheers for that PDF download btw - I'll read the first chapter or so and if I like it I'll go buy the book and sit under a tree or something with it.
Heh, the bit I'm watching is quite interesting - he asked Dawkins how he started/left Theology. Which made me think of my own childhood Theism - I wasn't brought up by my parents to follow any religion but when I went to secondary school at 11 they had a class called "Divinity". We had to study the bible (Acts of the Apostles specifically for a good few months) and as we had grownups teaching us from a book that looks a bit like a history book we just took it as truth. I mean at that point I'd not encounted anyone who'd just talk out and out shite so I never once thought of it as bollocks.
By the end of the year I'd started asking questions about the basis for it all, and like Dawson I found the existence of other religions and the chance at which I'd come into the one being taught to be an indicator that there was a possibilty they were wrong and either one of the other religions was correct or none of them were. And by 12 I was an Atheist. Interesting 'cos I'd forgotten all that
.gif)
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