{"id":1967,"date":"2006-11-30T02:30:57","date_gmt":"2006-11-30T07:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2006\/11\/30\/the-god-hypothesis-1\/"},"modified":"2006-11-30T02:30:57","modified_gmt":"2006-11-30T07:30:57","slug":"the-god-hypothesis-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2006\/11\/30\/the-god-hypothesis-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The God Hypothesis 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Richard Dawkins, who writes with a prose that is saucy and caustic and witty, argues in his newest book that God is a delusion. I will be joined in this series by RJS; I will write the first few paragraphs today and then RJS joins in. RJS is a scientist at a research university in the USA, and we will be looking at Dawkins\u2019 new book, The God Delusion<\/em><\/a>.
\n\u201cYou can be,\u201d Dawkins claims, \u201can atheist who is happy, balanced, moral, and intellectually fulfilled\u201d (1) and, he continues two pages later, \u201cfor atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind.\u201d On the contrary, taking aim at his believing targets, \u201cdyed-in-the-wool faith-heads are immune to argument\u201d (5).
\nHow\u2019s that for a Preface? Do you think believers are \u201cimmune to argument\u201d?
\nChp 1 deals with \u201cdeserved\u201d and \u201cundeserved\u201d respect. The former \u2014 nature. The latter \u2014 belief in God. \u201cA quasi-mystical response to nature and the universe is common among scientists and rationalists\u201d (11). But, this is not belief in God. He\u2019s with Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein. And he thinks physicists should refrain from referring to this \u201cmetaphorical and pantheistic God\u201d as \u201cGod.\u201d To refer to the former as the latter is \u201can act of intellectual high treason\u201d (19).
\nThe undeserved respect is the way religion is treated with respect in public sectors. Think of Salman Rushdie or the cartoons published in Denmark or the way American media grants respect to religions. His question: \u201cWhat is so special about religion that we grant it such uniquely privileged respect?\u201d (27).
\nRJS:
\nRichard Dawkins is an evangelist of dogmatic atheism and secular humanism. Although he is by training an evolutionary biologist, and one who made some substantial scientific contributions early in his career, he has really made his reputation and his later career in the realm of the \u201cpopularization of science,\u201d or more accurately in the preaching and popularization of a robust atheism. This book is essentially an extended polemic for atheism. Be aware though that Dawkins is not alone and those openly holding similar positions, although perhaps possessing somewhat more tact, are rapidly becoming more vocal and forceful, and ultimately, perhaps, more dangerous. Many of the arguments presented within this book are ones we must understand and be prepared to deal with.
\nNeither the preface nor the 1st chapter of The God Delusion<\/em> contains much science, although Dawkins does quote a number of well known atheistic or agnostic scientists to bolster his argument that rational thinking demands atheism. In the section on undeserved respect his most cogent argument against religion and respect for religion relates to the condoned hatred of groups and individuals, all in the name of God, as practiced by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. How is this argument to be answered?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Dawkins, who writes with a prose that is saucy and caustic and witty, argues in his newest book that God is a delusion. I will be joined in this series by RJS; I will write the first few paragraphs today and then RJS joins in. RJS is a scientist at a research university in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nThe God Hypothesis 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Richard Dawkins, who writes with a prose that is saucy and caustic and witty, argues in his newest book that God is a delusion. 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