I was in doubt whether to read this book or not. I don’t like religious fundamentalists, so would I like a book by an atheist fundamentalist any better?
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
This is Richard Dawkins’ impassioned rebuttal of religion of all types, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes. He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly.
The Good
His arguments against religion, his appeal for a secular society and atheism, … are just brilliant. The way he picks the arguments in favor of a religion and the stories in holy books apart are eye openers and even hilarious on occasion. It will provide a lot of ammo next time you find yourself in a discussion on religion.
He also does a very good job pointing out how expressions by or quotes from famous scientists, writers, politicians, and even the founding fathers of the USA are used out of context to support the idea that they believed in a God. While his explanation is a lot better than those by theists, by putting those quotes into context, it is also a weak point because most of those people are dead, so you can’t ask them what they really meant by it. It’s his interpretation against those made by theists.
Another good point for this book is making connections; sometimes you read something in a book, and something else in another book, without making a connection. This book made me connect some dots. Some of the things the author wrote reminded me of funny quotes or witty remarks by Terry Pratchett. I am not saying that Richard Dawkins read Terry Pratchett‘s work or vice-versa. Both are well-read men and it’s likely they have read the same books. When I read the part on pedomorphism, it reminded me of the SF-novel Protector by Larry Niven. These are just 2 of the more enjoyable insights. I had many Aha-Erlebnis moments while reading this book.
The Bad
Richard Dawkins is a bit too fanatical to my liking in his atheism. This is probably why he got his nickname Darwin’s Rotweiller instead of just being called a Darwinist. The content is very good, but the tone was too aggressive. I recently listened to an interview with Dr Pamela Gay — a scientist, astronomer, writer and Christian — on Token Skeptic on the separation between scientific truth and belief. In it she said that when you want take action against religious fundamentalism, Creation theory, or Intelligent Design, you shouldn’t attack Christianity in general. Challenge the arguments by the fundamentalists, the creationist, … and you might even find Christian allies. Richard Dawkin‘s arguments are good, but he wont be finding allies among moderate believers for keeping creation theory or intelligent design (ID) out of the science lessons. He might end up only preaching to the choir. There is humor in the book which made me laugh, but why doesn’t he use it more.
This book proved to be a slow read. I didn’t expect a page-turner, but I also didn’t expect to have to work my way through it. It’s not like the topic is difficult. Was the problem mine — a lack of concentration? Is it the author’s writing style? Is it the Dutch translation?
It wouldn’t be the first time that I preferred to read the original English version of a book instead of the Dutch, my native tongue, translation. I would never have become the fan of Terry Pratchett I am today reading his books in Dutch. After reading the series “De Duivelsprinsen” I almost immediately sold my copies and bought the original English books, The Demon Princes by Jack Vance.
So, to those of you who have read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, either in Dutch or in English, was it a slow read, did you have to work your way through it, or was it a page-turner?
Conclusion
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is definitely a book that I am going to read again, but next time in English. The content is great, but I didn’t like his style that much. I did put his other books on my to read list.
Be prepared; the many references in this book made my to read list a whole lot longer.
Rating: 
| I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously. |
| Douglas Adams |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I read it in English. It wasn’t a page turner for me, but I enjoyed it. The one bad thing for me was like you said, that he was a little too fanatical in his atheism.
Thanks for the comment.
By now I have seen several of his documentaries and read quite a lot of skeptical and complete nonsense articles so I am starting to understand his point of view. Still, I would have preferred a less fanatical approach.