ryah (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} four) wrote,@ 2008-04-15 13:26:00 |
|
The God Delusion
The idea of bluntly arguing for atheism is off-putting. Having never been brought into a religious environment, I've been a de facto atheist my entire life. Not for many years have I had the desire to debate or discuss religion in the presence of religious people; I learned early that it was a dead-end discussion. So when I started hearing about Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion book I was uninterested, perhaps even a bit annoyed. Annoyed because anyone who has the ability to think clearly is an atheist (or at least an agnostic or deist). What point is there arguing to the brain-washed and/or brain-dead? But being reminded of it almost daily on 3 quarks daily eventually persuaded me to purchase the book.
I expected trite arguments but the book was rather refreshing. For the existing atheist, The God Delusion encourages confident disrespect of religions and their believers
The last chapter was lovely and uplifting, describing a world view without a god. Mark Twain said, "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." There is much to explore, create, and know while we're existing - why waste our time on delusional non-sense. The book reaffirms one to continue forward with this fresh and chilly rejection of dogma.
The idea of bluntly arguing for atheism is off-putting. Having never been brought into a religious environment, I've been a de facto atheist my entire life. Not for many years have I had the desire to debate or discuss religion in the presence of religious people; I learned early that it was a dead-end discussion. So when I started hearing about Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion book I was uninterested, perhaps even a bit annoyed. Annoyed because anyone who has the ability to think clearly is an atheist (or at least an agnostic or deist). What point is there arguing to the brain-washed and/or brain-dead? But being reminded of it almost daily on 3 quarks daily eventually persuaded me to purchase the book.
I expected trite arguments but the book was rather refreshing. For the existing atheist, The God Delusion encourages confident disrespect of religions and their believers
Whenever a controversy arises over sexual or reproductive morals,you can bet that religious leaders from several different faith groups will be prominently represented on influential committees, or on panel discussions on radio or television. I'm not suggesting that we should go out of our way to censor the views of these people. But why does our society beat a path to their door, as though they had some expertise comparable to that of, say, a moral philosopher, a family lawyer or a doctor?I am emboldened to not ignore or distance myself from this problem. For example, by hiding my lack of belief when people say prayer before a meal. I will watch them quietly but I will not bow my head to avoid a confrontation.
The last chapter was lovely and uplifting, describing a world view without a god. Mark Twain said, "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." There is much to explore, create, and know while we're existing - why waste our time on delusional non-sense. The book reaffirms one to continue forward with this fresh and chilly rejection of dogma.
