About 10 years ago I was not happy with my then Lutheran upbringing. I was in love with my now husband, Jim, and he had heard a great review of The Jesus Mysteries on NPR. So we bought it, I read it after him, and...well...needless to say I didn't return to church until 6 years ago. The Jesus Mysteries ROCKED my world. Completely.
It shook the core of my belief system.
However, The God Delusion did not.
I immediately found Dawkins to be self-absorbed and pompous. He often quotes others that mention his findings and beliefs. I also was surprised that he stated Thomas Jefferson was an atheist. He wasn't. In fact, I own Jefferson's Bible. Jefferson was a deist.
Okay, back to The God Delusion. I did "dog-ear" a few pages and did a bit of research. One of those pages was Dawkins "New Ten Commandments." I found the list to be very interesting, and very peaceful. From pages 263-264:
- Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you
- In all things, strive to cause no harm
- Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
- Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
- Live life with a sense of joy and wonder
- Always seek to be learning something new
- Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.
- Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
- Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
- Question everything
Another "dog-eared" page was 290, in which a quote from Gary Potter, President of Catholics for Christian Political Action:
"When the Christian majority takes over this country, there will be no satanic churches, no more free distribution of pornography, no more talk of rights for homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not permit anybody the right to practice evil."
I also found "The Great Beethoven Fallacy" to be rather amusing (pages 298-301). I really enjoyed how Dawkins illustrated the fallacy of quoted scripture, history, and the like. It reminded me of when 9-11 happened and there were crazy emails about how Nostradamus predicted the event. Upon further research the "quote" was taken from two different sections of his work, AND it was misquoted even at that!
Probably the most interesting tidbit in the book was about a "cult" that I had never heard of before: The Exclusive Brethren.
Let me be clear, I wasn't blown away by The God Delusion. However, I was able to see how it might shake the core of others.
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