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The God Delusion (2006)

by Richard Dawkins

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
16,838365306 (3.94)2 / 392
Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML:A preeminent scientist??and the world's most prominent atheist??asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11.
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines 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 eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever m… (more)
  1. 233
    Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell (BGP, yakov.perelman)
  2. 192
    God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens (hnn, BGP)
  3. 70
    Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman (robertf)
    robertf: Dawkins is passionately trying to refute an undefined hypothesis - this is perhaps one of his least succesful works. Ehrman's book does not have conversion to atheism as its aim - it is a description of the scholarly analysis of texts. The reason it is devastating to religion is that it undermines any claim to biblical authenticity by exposing contradictions between different manuscripts. It achieves what Dawkins aims to much more subtly and scientifically.… (more)
  4. 61
    Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett (ljessen)
  5. 61
    Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam by Michel Onfray (gust)
  6. 51
    Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity by John W. Loftus (Percevan)
  7. 41
    Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up by John Allen Paulos (infiniteletters)
  8. 30
    The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (yakov.perelman)
  9. 31
    The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails by John W. Loftus (Percevan)
  10. 42
    What is Good?: The Search for the Best Way to Live by A. C. Grayling (chrisharpe)
  11. 20
    The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins (yakov.perelman)
  12. 21
    God and the State by Michael Bakunin (BGP)
  13. 21
    Atheism Advanced: Further Thoughts of a Freethinker by David Eller (hnn)
  14. 32
    Talking With God: The Many Faces of Religious Delusion by Robert A. Clark (bertilak)
  15. 32
    Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew Newberg (bertilak)
  16. 00
    Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow (themulhern)
    themulhern: God is cruel is the theme that unites these two books.
  17. 22
    Why Gods Persist: A Scientific Approach to Religion by Robert A. Hinde (bertilak)
  18. 34
    The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener by Martin Gardner (ehines)
    ehines: While I agree with Dawkins and disagree with Gardner about the existence of God, Gardner's open-mindedness judicious and friendly tone, even in error, serves as a rebuke to Dawkins' inability to understand or respect his intellectual opponents.
  19. 23
    God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? by John C. Lennox (bfrost)
  20. 213
    The Selfish Genius: How Richard Dawkins Rewrote Darwin's Legacy by Fern Elsdon-Baker (Gavin_Hardcastle)
    Gavin_Hardcastle: Interesting Read

(see all 24 recommendations)

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» See also 392 mentions

English (337)  Dutch (6)  Swedish (4)  Spanish (2)  Italian (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Finnish (2)  French (2)  Portuguese (2)  Icelandic (1)  Hebrew (1)  Turkish (1)  German (1)  Catalan (1)  All languages (364)
Showing 1-5 of 337 (next | show all)
A surprisingly difficult read; Dawkins is happy to go down various byways that his argument opens up. A lot of readers have criticised his style or authorial voice, finding it "condescending" or "arrogant" (even if they were in agreement with his thesis); at times, I got a sense of what they were reacting to, although it didn't trouble me particularly.

I have slightly non-mainstream theist views (more a suspicion than anything I'd call a belief) and I was surprised to find Dawkins describing something I could agree with and reinforcing my position. There was much else I agreed with, a few things I disagreed with and a lot that, for a book published in 2006 (and revised a year later) was worryingly prescient. (Mainly about American politics.) ( )
  RobertDay | Jan 20, 2024 |
Should be required reading. ( )
  jaylcee | Nov 26, 2023 |
Good, it's not great (my apologies, Hitch). ( )
  bibliothecarivs | Jul 31, 2023 |
(40) This was fascinating. I am late to the party as it was written in 2006, but it certainly has not lost its relevance. Perhaps my favorite quote is from Seneca the Younger who I think lived in antiquity. “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.’ Umm, yeah - that about sums it up.

I think that given Dawkins premise that religion is dangerous and abusive especially to children, he necessarily has to be disrespectful. In fact, his whole first chapter is dedicated to showing us that the special respect we give to religious beliefs is a huge problem. And that is where he probably loses some people. As a Catholic (atheist) who send my children to Catholic school, I should have been horrified. But instead, I feel almost validated. I don’t need to bother with cognitive dissonance. I teach my children to think for themselves, have discussions about comparative religion and science and allegory and culture. It is all not mutually exclusive. I don, t need to reject my cultural heritage, to hold scientific, rational, yet humanistic beliefs. Right. Right? (Though not sure what the priests would say - probably nothing as I write them big checks)

Obviously, this book made me think. This book is well-reasoned, eminently readable, and quite powerful. One complaint is that he constantly referenced his past work and others work, making it sometimes seem like there was no original thought or purpose to this one. Made me think at times, why don’t I just put this down and read this other handful of books which are so heavily quoted? And at times a bit repetitive. This is a 5 star in terms of subject matter and powerful rhetoric, but is pulled down by that pop science feel of recycled repetitiveness to get the points across to the masses.

I will check out his bibliography and someday soon I really want to tackle ‘The Origin of Species, myself. If I had more conviction and energy, I would find a way to emigrate to a more enlightened country as I feel us slipping into a Christian theocracy due to broken electoral politics. Sigh.

A late Bravo from me. ( )
1 vote jhowell | Jul 30, 2023 |
Dawkins makes a lot of very valid points, and there is a ton of great information in this book...however, it's DRY. So dry. 30% through, I just couldn't take it anymore and had to switch to the audiobook. And I hate audiobooks. There are much more accessible books out there that will provide the... ( )
  kylecarroll | Jul 10, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 337 (next | show all)
That was the first time I had ever considered, even in my own thoughts to myself, that I could be an atheist. I was 36. My husband was down with this—he told me he was an atheist, too. I felt it was weird we were finally having a conversation about this after being married for six years, but maybe we intrinsically knew all along.
added by paradoxosalpha | editDaily Kos, boofdah (Oct 28, 2011)
 
In The God Delusion, Dawkins argues that evolution has removed the need for a God hypothesis to explain life, and advances in physics may soon do the same for the universe. Further, the existence of God is a proper question for science, and the answer is no.
added by Taphophile13 | editThe Age, Barney Zwartz (Nov 24, 2006)
 
Despite the many flashes of brilliance in this book, Dawkins’s failure to appreciate just how hard philosophical questions about religion can be makes reading it an intellectually frustrating experience.
 
Creationists and believers in God are right to see him as their arch-enemy. In The God Delusion he displays what a formidable adversary he is. It is a spirited and exhilarating read. In the current climate of papal/Islamic stand-off, it is timely too.
added by ghilbrae | editThe Guardian, Joan Bakewell (Sep 26, 2006)
 

» Add other authors (16 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Dawkins, Richardprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Barr, NomaCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Riemsdijk, Hans E. vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vogel, SebastianTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ward, LallaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
'Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?'
Dedication
In Memoriam
Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
First words
As a child, my wife hated her school and wished she could leave.
The boy lay prone in the grass, his chin resting on his hands.
Quotations
Pantheism is sexed-up atheism. Deism is watered-down theism.
But hate only has to prove it is religious, and it no longer counts as hate.
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.
I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden.
I am no more fundamentalist when I say evolution is true than when I say it is true that New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
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Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML:A preeminent scientist??and the world's most prominent atheist??asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11.
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines 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 eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever m

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Book description
Richard Dawkins è uno dei più famosi scienziati di oggi e uno dei più strenui difensori della teoria darwiniana della selezione naturale. La tesi di questo suo nuovo libro, che ha suscitato un enorme clamore nel mondo anglosassone e ha generato un dibattito accesissimo, è molto semplice: Dio non esiste e la fede in un essere superiore è illogica, sbagliata e potenzialmente mortale, come millenni di guerre di religione e la recente minaccia globale del terrorismo fondamentalista islamico dimostrano ampiamente. Agli occhi di Dawkins, ogni religione condivide lo stesso errore fondamentale, vale a dire l'illusoria credenza nell'esistenza di Dio, e, con essa, la pericolosa sicurezza di conoscere una verità indiscutibile perché sacra.
(piopas)
Haiku summary
(KCleavely)
You believe in God.
I believe you've been deceived.
I will tell you why.

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