I just read The God Delusion

[edhopper]

if I wasn't already an atheist, I would be one now.
Dawkins has a great gift for making the arguments against God and religion simple and cogent.
While dismantling most (if not all) the arguments in favor of these.
I also found that he already answered many of the arguments that were put out after the book to refute it.

[JuniperLea]

1. Thanks...

This book is in my stack.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Definitely one of my favorite books.

Full of head-slapping, gee-that's-obvious-once-you-think-about-it material.

[rurallib]

3. yep.

I have taken one of those journeys to atheism that is probably fairly common. Dawkins was kind of the final nail in the coffin.

[edhopper]

4. He was at the begining for me

with 'The Blind Watchmaker"

[kimmerspixelated]

5. So,if there is no God or master spirit, does the book

also contend that the we are all one theory is bunk as well? Just curious. I am not leaning one way or the other. I do not believe in organized religion, but do firmly believe in a higher master spirit of some kind, even if it's really cosmic debris as the source.

[edhopper]

8. I'm not sure what your asking

but he basically is saying all religion, God and higher power ideas are unfounded, unwarranted and usually harmful.

[BurtWorm]

12. If memory serves, I don't think he addresses pantheism or panentheism

or whatever you want to call it. I'm pretty sure, however, that he would put it on par with straight theism, which he rejects for being impossible to prove or even gather evidence for.

[meeshrox]

6. Finished it last week...

then got it on CD and listen to my favorite parts when I need some sanity!

It's a fantastic read!

[cleanhippie]

7. You should alse read The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God

By Carl Sagan. Mind blowing!

[Lost-in-FL]

11. On my e-reader, can't wait for school to be done so I can read it. nt

[cleanhippie]

13. Will you tell me

what you think when you are finished?

[Lost-in-FL]

20. You can count on that.

;)

[SocialistLez]

9. He came to town some years back

ABSOLUTELY loved his talk!

[pokerfan]

10. A good one to follow God Delusion

[cleanhippie]

14. +1. Reading that one right now.

Well, not right this second, but you know what I mean.

[pokerfan]

16. Carl's Baloney Detection Kit

From Chapter 12 of Demon Haunted World:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/baloney_detection.html

[cleanhippie]

17. Dude. thats the part I finished this morning...

Are you on my wavelength, or what?

[pokerfan]

18. Apparently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea-V5SJX1h0

[cleanhippie]

19. nice

i may have to start my friday 420 at 345!

[ChadwickHenryWard]

23. Every child in America should be taught that in the first grade. n/t

[ChadwickHenryWard]

22. That has to be my all-time favorite book.

It started my lifelong love affair with science. His defense of science is forceful and elegant - he makes the case that science is not just "another point of view," and that it really is superior to all the other paradigms because of its built in error-correcting machinery. He also compares superstitions new and old; there are some striking similarities between the modern phenomenon of alien visitation and the older phenomena of molestation of demons or fairies.

Consider - when visited by fairies you would be: come upon while you slept; paralyzed; dazzled by strange lights; taken to a strange, unfamiliar place; made to dance (this might take the place of being made to perform strange tasks during scientific observation.) This is all remarkably similar to what is reported by "abductees." Consider further that demons - the incubi and succubi - would collect semen from men and use it to impregnate women - which is quite strikingly like the sexual experiments performed by our otherworldly visitors. (Sagan also notes that when nuns were raped by demons, the incubus would often take the form of the convent's bishop or priest-confessor. Celibacy was for suckers even back then.)

[TZ]

15. You should read some of his sociobiology texts

Like the Blind Watchmaker or the Selfish Gene...they go along well in supporting his theories from the God Delusion. I do not agree 100% with some of his theories but they are very well argued for and I think it makes a nice basis for understanding why he says what he does in the God Delusion. A lot of people think he's a simple god and religion hater, but he has some VERY sound science supporting him and I think if some believers want to argue about how wrong he is, they would do well to consider his other books here.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

21. I think it is the weakest of Dawkins's works that I have read.

Dawkins is my favorite writer, but I like his science better. He's got a pretty decent grasp on religion, and I can't think of any argument of his that I've ever found unconvincing - I really like his "Ultimate Boeing 747" argument. But his relish for science is really refreshing. Whenever I pick up one of his books, his writing is like an old friend.

[cleanhippie]

24. .